San'en
by MechenManachewagan
Summary: After the fall of the Kyuubi, Senju Tsunade takes up the mantle of Hokage. Nearly 10 years later the village is once being pulled into a war. A special team is being put together and trained by the enigmatic ANBU named Saru. AU, Epic Length
1. Chapter 1

"Verdammt durch das Fleisch. Gerettet durch das Blut"

-Damned by the flesh saved by the blood

Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?

If they ever tell my story let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Tsunade, Godaime Hokage. Let them say I lived in the time of the San'en.

Everyone strives to make a difference in the world. To achieve something that will withstand the inevitable passage of time. Some build monuments, giant buildings, statues or paintings. Some try to leave an impression on the children, in hopes that maybe one of them will have a better life because of something that they had said or done. Then there are some, who have achieved immortality. They are the Gilgamesh of our time. They may have died, but their legend will live on forever.

Damned by the flesh, saved by the blood. –ANBU Motto

--Just over ten years since the sealing of the kyuubi—

Tsunade sat idly behind the large wooden desk of the Hokage, staring balefully at the stack of papers in front of her. She still wasn't sure what made her accept the offer to be Hokage after the Yondaime's passing. Perhaps some sick and twisted sense of duty, but that was now irrelevant. Sensei had been right; the village needed a strong leader, not an old man or a pervert.

She sighed aloud and poured herself a small cup of sake; this year's graduates were proving harder to place than she had anticipated.

'A lot of the genin passed the initial exam, but only a nine look like they stand a chance of actually staying on as active genin' She thought as she slowly twirled a strand of her blonde hair between her fingers.

Leaning back, she took a sip of her sake and absentmindedly stroked Tonton's head. A knock at the door woke her from her reverie as she quickly hid the alcohol under her desk.

"Enter" She called out to whoever was standing outside her door.

In walked a rather tired looking jounin. The taller man wore his hitai-ite angled to cover his left eye. His silvery gray hair stood up and a thin black neoprene mask covered the lower portion of his face.

"Tsunade-sama" Kakashi said as he bowed his head slightly "I was wondering about the team assignments that you are making for the new genin"

Tsunade set down the sheet of paper that she had been working on and looked at the gray haired scarecrow.

"And what were you wondering about exactly?" She said, knowing full well what he wanted.

"You see, there are a couple of students who graduated from the academy, that I would like to train. You see I owe both of there families a great deal and…" But he was cut off from finishing his sentence.

"Both Sasuke and Naruto are already placed Kakashi, you can't have them"

Kakashi slammed his hand down on the table. Loosing his cool was unusual for him, but this was something he wasn't going to let go without a fight.

"And why the hell not, Sasuke is considered to be a genius in taijutsu and Naruto is a ninjutsu genius. I'm obviously the best sensei for either of them!"

Tsunade shook her head,

"Normally I would agree with you, but…"

Without finishing her sentence she picked up one of the various papers on her desk and handed it to Kakashi.

Kakashi looked at it closely. It was a topographical map of a small country just south of the borders of Fire country. It was marked with several red circles, and had some note written in a code on the side.

Kakashi stared confusedly at the map.

"What does Rice Field country have to do with me not being able to train Sasuke and Naruto?"

Tsunade pulled the map away, placing back on the pile.

"It appears my old teammate has not been sitting idly over the past two decades. That's a map that Jiraiya just sent me. Those red circles that are on there are all locations of bases to a new shinobi village called 'Otogakure'. As it stands they're too weak to attack any of the major countries, but that won't last long. Orochimaru seems to have been collecting a very large number of ninja to him. He intends to raise Konoha to the ground."

Tsunade picked up the sheet of paper she had been looking at when Kakashi first came in,

"Which is why the shinobi council has given me this request"

Kakashi read the paper,

The Honorable Shinobi Council believes that there is a need for a new 'Free Response Team' to be assembled from the upcoming graduates of the academy. With the rising threat of this new Otogakure we feel that it is within the villages best interest to create a new elite team.

The various councilmen signed the bottom of the paper.

Kakashi's eyebrows raised in surprise,

"The council still has a say in what teams are made? I thought you effectively cut them off from anything like that?"

Tsunade sighed and pulled her bottle of sake out of its hiding place along with two of the small saucers. Pouring a cup for both of them she motioned for him to take a seat.

She sipped lightly at the hard drink before sighing,

"Well in reality I have, they can only request that we make the team. In all honesty, they've requested one nearly every year; just now they actually have a reason to. Which means I can't just ignore it."

Kakashi looked confused,

"Why would you refuse to make the teams? Every free response team brought a lot of good publicity to our city."

Tsunade sighed wearily and rubber her forehead,

"You sound just like the council now…"

Seeing that he didn't comprehend she chose to elaborate,

"Yes the publicity that they might bring to the village is normally regarded as something good, but have you ever heard that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Right now we are situated as the most powerful of all the ninja villages. But it is a precarious position to be in"

Kakashi looked mildly confused,

"I'm afraid that I don't quite follow you there"

Tsunade shrugged and continued,

"Look at it this way Kakashi. How many times have you been on a mission and somebody tries to kill you just because you are Sharingan no Kakashi?"

Kakashi, not sure where she was heading answered,

"I don't know, quite a few I suppose, why?"

Tsunade, looking down at her desk, continued,

"Now imagine that each one of those would be killers wasn't just by himself, but was an entire country, and they were fighting together because you took to much away from them."

Kakashi's eye's widened as he grasped what she was trying to convey to him,

"So you think that if you were to create this team, the publicity might push some people over the edge and push them to work with Orochimaru?"

Tsunade nodded her head,

"To make matters even more difficult, the council doesn't know any of the details about Orochimaru, so as far as they are concerned, this village is invincible and should flaunt its power. And now I have no reason to stop them"

Kakashi shrugged,

"So make the team, what's the worst that happens"

Tsunade sighed and handed him a list of all nine of the graduating genin that were expected to actually make the grade.

"The problem is that they are only requesting the team so that they gain more power in their respective clans. It's well known that all the past free response teams rise to greatness. Look at what it did for the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara clans. Prior to the Ino-Shika-Cho team, they were relatively unknown. But their prowess in battle brought them up to the point that they are all on the council. And they weren't even that good of a free response team."

Kakashi sat back in the chair and looked at the list that Tsunade had handed him.

"Ahh… Now I see the problem…"

Indeed, almost all of the names on the list were clan heirs. He noted them briefly in his mind,

'Well there are the Yamanaka, Akimichi, Nara, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, and Uchiha heirs.'

He shook his head lightly,

'I guess Sasuke isn't much of a heir in anything but title, so its not like he's vying for the spot. So that leaves him, and…'

Kakashi nodded his head in sudden understanding,

"So you're making Sasuke, Naruto, and that Haruno girl into the free response team?"

Tsunade poured herself another drink,

"That's the idea anyways. Naruto and Sasuke have no families, so there is no one but themselves with anything to gain from this. Haruno Sakura is really the only exception, but even her family is most gone, killed by the Kyuubi. All she has left is an elderly grandmother who taught her genjutsu as a child."

Kakashi nodded his head,

"So you're covering all three of the basics in the team. You have Sasuke as the primary taijutsu fighter, Naruto for ninjutsu, and Sakura for medical and genjutsu"

Tsunade tipped the drip back and slammed the small cup on the table.

"Exactly"

Kakashi, setting his empty cup on the table replied,

"So explain again why I can't teach this team? My team was originally supposed to be a free response team and with my knowledge, I doubt you can find someone else better for the job."

Tsunade smirked,

"That's where you're wrong Kakashi, there is someone who is much more suited for this job"

Kakashi looked a little surprised, but replied snidely,

"And who would that be?"

A small cough alerted Kakashi that there was someone else standing in the doorway,

"That would be me"

--

Naruto was running down the streets towards the academy, his non-reflective hitai-ite tied proudly around his head. The special forehead protectors were only given to the top students in each particular field of the shinobi. Sasuke-teme had gotten the taijutsu one, Sakura got the genjutsu one, but he had beaten them all at ninjutsu.

He smiled at the memory, (_Flashback_)

The class was standing on one of the larger fields that were situated alongside of the academy. They were each given turns to show at least 3, but no more than 5 different ninjutsu. They were scored on difficulty and their level of proficiency.

_Naruto smirked at what he had planned; he impatiently played with the handle of the brand new katana that he bought. In all reality the sword was a lot longer than what someone his size would normally use, but he didn't want to use just any sword when he grew up. He wanted a nodachi._

_Iruka was talking to whatever random student that had been unable to complete three ninjutsu. The academy trained every student to use the kawarimi, henge, and bunshin (replacement, transformation, and clone techniques, respectively) techniques, but it was expected of the student to learn at least one or two on their own._

"_Uzumaki Naruto" called out Iruka_

"_Finally" Naruto said aloud as he walked past his instructor_

_Iruka nodded to him when he saw that Naruto was ready,_

"_Ok Naruto, you know the rules. Between 3-5 jutsus. Anything past the fifth won't count. You have 5 minutes to complete the series"_

_Naruto nodded his head,_

"_Your time starts…Now!" Iruka yelled._

_Without missing a beat Naruto formed a cross-shaped hand sign._

"_Kage Bunshin no jutsu"(Shadow Clone) in a small puff of smoke, 5 identical Naruto's stood next to the original. Each one quickly drew their katana off their back and swung it down exclaiming "Futon: Kamaitachi no Jutsu" (Slashing Wind) and 6 invisible blades of wind tore across the training grounds and cut six different trees in half._

'_Two' Naruto mentally counted before continuing._

_Naruto quickly sheathed his sword, his clones following along, and began making signs for his next technique._

"_Katon: Housenka no jutsu" (Immortal phoenix fire) in seconds a small rain of two foot wide fireballs hammered against the newly fell trees, quickly igniting their branches._

'_Three' he counted again_

_Once again the six Naruto's began to fly through seals,_

"_Futon: Daitoppa no jutsu" (Great Breakthrough) instantly a great gale flew across the field, blowing over many of the academy students. The instructors anchored themselves with chakra as the incredible wind just blew past them. The burning trees quickly turned into a small inferno that was being fed by the wind._

_As soon as the wind gusts stopped Iruka saw Naruto begin making signs for his fifth and final jutsu._

_Naruto began gathering an enormous amount of chakra, for a genin, dispelling his clones. After near ten seconds of gathering the chakra, he slammed his hands to the ground yelling._

"_Doton: Yomi Numa" (Swamp of the Underworld) _

_Thick brown and black mud began to bubble around the burning logs, pulling them just underneath the earth's surface._

_Iruka looked over at the blonde student. His hands were still on the ground as he kept channeling chakra into the technique. When only a few branches remained above the surface of the ground, Naruto cancelled the technique and dropped onto his backside. _

_Breathing laboriously he looked at Iruka,_

"_So, how did I do?"_

_Iruka smiled,_

"_Well you're control over the wind and fire techniques was excellent, but I would say that earth is probably not an element that you're aligned with. You could have seriously caused yourself some harm using that technique."_

_Naruto waived the man off,_

"_Already knew that, but I meant the exam?"_

_Iruka sighed,_

"_I highly doubt anyone else is going to trump that one Naruto. Which is good, it makes up for your abysmal genjutsu score"_

_Naruto smirked,_

"_That was the idea"_

(End Flashback)

Naruto continued running towards the academy with a bright smile on his face. The villagers all scowled at him as he jumped overhead, but the other shinobi generally left him alone.

He would even admit that ninjutsu was the only thing that he was actually good at. Granted he was passable in taijutsu, but he was nothing special. He all out sucked at genjutsu. He could break out of most of the simpler ones with a really good chakra pulse, but he couldn't use even some of the simplest techniques. The only other place he ever showed any promise was in kenjutsu, but that was pointless at the academy.

He quickly made his way into the academy, and took his normal seat along side Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sasuke-teme" Naruto greeted as he sat down at the table. Sasuke only grunted a response, apparently in no mood for conversation.

Naruto thought about calling him out on it, but decided against it. His pride was still a little bit sore from their match in the exams yesterday. During the taijutsu portion he was matched against Sasuke in the fourth round, and it hadn't been pretty.

Thinking about it though, Naruto snickered; Sasuke may of beaten him at taijutsu hands down. But nothing was funnier than watching Sakura make Kiba run head first into a tree during the genjutsu portion, without even having made any movement outside of a couple of hand seals.

Glancing around, Naruto could see at least thirty people seated around the room. Several spots left open from students that had been unable to complete one or more portions of the exams.

After a short wait in relative peace, their lead instructor, Iruka walked through the door with several sheets of paper in his hands.

Naruto anxiously leaned forward, waiting for the man to begin talking.

"Congratulations on passing the genin exams yesterday." He started, "I am proud that so many of you were able to meet the rigorous standards that Hokage-sama has set for the graduating classes"

He went to continue talking, but the door into the classroom slid open one more time. Standing in the door was a young looking buxom woman, wearing a green overcoat with the word 'Godaime' on the back.

Iruka quickly bowed to the woman,

"Hokage-sama! I wasn't expecting you" He remained slightly bowed

The Hokage waived him off,

"I was just hoping to give a short speech to some of our newest genin" she replied calmly

"Of course Hokage-sama" Iruka responded quickly.

The woman walked towards the center of the room and removed the large red formal headwear of the Hokage and placed it on the desk.

"Congratulations to all of you. You are all about to start on a long and toilsome journey that will likely take the rest of your lives. Many of you will not make it through alive. You are entering the rank of the elites, the Shinobi. Whether you have not realized it yet or you are just avoiding it. The fact is, that at some time in your life, this country will call upon you to fight. To fight, for it, to kill for it, and to die for it…"

She let the words hang there for a second before continuing,

"All the world around you is watching you. Waiting on baited breath to see who is ready. Who among you is ready to go on this journey? It is not for me to answer. I am only here to give you a few words of wisdom.

You don't get very far in this life without having to be brave an awful lot. Because we all have our frightening moments and difficult trials and we don't have much of a choice but to get through them, and it takes a lot of bravery to do that. The most important thing about bravery is this — It's not about not being scared — it's about being scared and doing it anyway — that's bravery.

There will come a time when you are beaten, broken and no longer able to continue. It's at those times that I want you to all remember these words"

She added another small pause for dramatics,

"When you cannot walk, you crawl. And when you find that you can no longer crawl… Then you find someone to carry you…"

Tsunade pulled out a scroll that she had tucked away inside of her overcoat.

"Here I have a list of teams that I have put together. Together with them, you will either live or die. Ultimately, the decision is your own. For those of you that cannot accept this fate, you may leave now."

Just like with every other class, all the students remained in there seats.

She nodded, "Very well."

With that she tossed the scroll to Iruka, put her hat back on and strolled out of the room.

Iruka unrolled the scroll and began calling off names. Naruto didn't bother to listen to the first have dozen or so teams. They were inconsequential; it was common knowledge that very few of them would ever make it past genin.

Finally Iruka began getting into the higher numbers,

"Team eight, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba, your Sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai"

Naruto nodded his head, a tracking/recon team.

"Team nine is still in rotation, so Team ten will be comprised of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji, your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma"

With that Iruka rolled up his scroll and placed it on the table. Naruto and Sasuke both sat up and shared a look. Looking around they could see that Sakura was also wondering what was going on.

Naruto was about to voice his concern, but a sharp look from Iruka told him to leave it be.

"Your sensei's will be waiting for you on the main academy training grounds. Please get together with your teams and make your way there."

All the students quickly jumped to there feet and grouped together before running out the door. Each and every one of them eager to begin their career as a shinobi.

As the students were running out, Iruka calmly walked in front of where Sasuke and Naruto were seated, he waived to Sakura, motioning for her to join them.

Naruto was the first to break the silence,

"Hey! Iruka what gives, why didn't we get a team?"

Iruka shrugged,

"I don't know. All I know is that the scroll specifically said that you three were to wait here until your new sensei arrived."

Sasuke finally cut into the conversation,

"So who is our new Sensei?"

Iruka sighed,

"Honestly, I have no idea. It was only listed as classified"

With that Iruka began walking out of the room, leaving three very confused students still standing in the classroom.

The three of them sat in silence for several minutes before Sakura turned to Sasuke,

"What does it mean that our Sensei is classified?"

Sasuke made to answer, before a voice right behind them answered,

"It means that according to Konoha's records, I don't exist. And from this moment on neither do you"

All three of the young students spun around, to find a white haired old man sitting behind them quietly on the desk. He wore standard black shinobi attire, but his arms had the old hard leather guards of ANBU. His shoulders were covered in rounded metal plates that had been nicked and dented over decades of use. Next to him was what looked like an old metal samurai helmet.

Sasuke was the first to recover from the shock of being surprised,

"Who are you?"

The man smiled,

"I'm your Sensei"

Naruto jumped up and pointed his finger at the man,

"What the hell! Your just an old man"

Sasuke seemed like he was about to voice a similar concern when Sakura suddenly grabbed Naruto and pulled him back down into the chair.

"I recognize you… Weren't you the Sandaime Hokage?"

--

Kakashi stood next to Tsunade, both of them staring out over Konoha.

"So you went through with it and made Sarutobi-sama the sensei for the team.

Tsunade nodded her head,

"It was really the most logical choice. Whether that old coot wants to admit it or not, he's really not fit to be on the front lines anymore. Since he obviously doesn't want to retire, this is the best option. Plus, look at what he did with me and my teammates."

Kakashi nodded his head,

"I guess I can't disagree with you."

Tsunade looked over towards him,

"You still wish that I had allowed you to be there Sensei?"

Kakashi nodded his head. Tsunade shrugged her shoulders,

"I am sure that there will come a day when they will need your help Kakashi."

Kakashi, trying once more pushed his luck,

"Still, the Sandaime is old, wouldn't it of been better to place them with a younger Sensei?"

Tsunade looked back out towards the village,

"You should of known by now. There comes a point in every Shinobi's life when they realize that they are past their prime. It's at this time one of two things happen. Either they quit and become a civilian, or they train harder in spite of their age. They fight time and do there best to stay in peak performance. Those are the deadliest ninja that you will ever find on the field. The old ones, who in spite of aging kept training, and with their decades of experience, crush all their opponents."

She turned and sat down at her desk to begin filling out some more paperwork,

"I'm sorry Kakashi, but you cannot be there sensei."

Kakashi nodded and made his way towards the door when Tsunade called out to him,

"There is however another team that will be graduating in the next year or two that may interest you…"

--

Naruto stared wide-eyed at the old man across from him. If Sakura was right, and this was the Sandaime Hokage. Then they had been lied to in their history books. According to the books, the Sandaime had been injured in the Kyuubi attack and was currently living at his estate in the Sarutobi compound.

The old man jumped off the table and landed on his feet in front of the students.

"Before anyone asks, I assure you that I am quite uninjured."

Sakura, her curiosity overriding any thought of nervousness began asking questions,

"But if you're and active ninja then we would of heard about you. I mean if a Hokage is out doing missions, then obviously people are going to notice something"

The old man laughed,

"Which is true" then reaching around behind himself, he pulled out a mask with the likeness of monkey on it and secured it to his face.

"Unless I was in an organization that according to Konoha records, has no members. You can call me Saru*, or perhaps Saru-sensei"

With that, he dropped three identical black cloth sacks in front of the three students. Tied to each sac was an identical blank white mask with circular holes for eyes.

"Welcome to ANBU kids"

With that he disappeared a puff of white smoke, leaving three stunned children sitting by themselves.

Naruto was the first to move, he quietly picked up the white porcelain mask. A small note was taped to the inside of it.

If you should choose to accept this position. Meet on top of the Hokage monument at sunrise tomorrow. Come dressed in the uniform provided. And remember, from the moment that you accept this mask. You do not exist. You will become ANBU, those who are 'Damned by the flesh, Saved by the blood'

Looking around, he saw that both Sasuke and Sakura reading an identical note.

After a moment, all three of them slowly brought the white masks up to there faces and felt the seals on the rims anchor it securely in place.

Sakura released a tense breath,

"I'll see you tomorrow morning then" She grimaced, hearing how her voice echoed off the mask. It perverted it, making it sound hollow and dead.

--

Naruto sat alone in his small apartment, quietly laying out each item that was found inside the black sack that 'Saru' had given him. It contained black shinobi sandals, two sets of black pants, shirts. A grey chest covering that seemed to have some sort of steel mesh inside of it. Stiff grey leather arm and shin guards, and a black heavy cloth cloak to cover the whole ensemble. It also seemed to have a small ninjato that fit the back of the chest armor, but he had discarded that in favor of his longer katana.

Slowly he began putting on the ensemble. It was heavier than what he normally wore, but it was also much stronger, less likely to get cut or torn in the heat of battle. The belt that was on the pants had a small hook that he could attach his mask to when he didn't have to wear it.

After tightening all the armor down till it was comfortable, he placed the mask back on his face and looked in the mirror.

Outside of his bright blonde hair, it would have been impossible to identify who he was, but if he put on the cloak, even that was hidden.

Taking the mask back off, he sat down on the floor and leaned up against the wall, taking a scroll off the wall, he began reading.

'The primary postulate of futon…

--

Morning came quickly for the three young students. Just as the far eastern horizon was beginning to brighten, all three were standing above Konoha peering out over the vast darkness that was just beginning to leave the land.

Behind them they heard someone walking out of the small forest. Unsurprisingly it was 'Saru'. He motioned for them to come over to him.

"Good you're all on time. Today is your first exam. If you fail, you will be sent back to the academy with your memory modified so that you do not remember ever having passed the exam. Do you understand?"

Three masked faces nodded in understanding,

"You have one hour to complete the first part of this exam." He held up a single bell,

"This bell must be captured, failure to do so will result in being returned to the academy. You may use any skills that you possess. If you do not come at me with the intent to kill, you will not pass this exam. Your time begins NOW!"

All three of the students jumped away, putting some space between them and the seasoned Hokage.

Almost immediately Naruto began forming hand seals for some jutsu, while Sasuke drew his ninjato and began running in.

Sarutobi smiled,

'Good they are already working as a team' but he frown for a second, looking over towards the pink haired ANBU trainee who was just standing there, with her hands in the ram seal.

As he moved to intercept the Uchiha, who by now was only feet away from him, a small bird broke out into song as the sun rose.

The effects were immediate; he could feel a moderately powerful genjutsu fall into place over him. It would be nothing astonishing if it was coming from a chuunin or jounin, but for a newly graduated genin, it was terrifying. Sasuke was now no more than a blur, and his balance was completely thrown off.

However, with quickness that only years of experience can provide, he broke the genjutsu, and blocked Sasuke's ninjato. Kicking hard in the chest, he sent him flying towards his blonde teammate.

Surprisingly enough, the blonde that Sasuke smashed into disappeared into a puff of smoke and he heard a yell,

"Futon: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" from behind him.

Spinning around, he could just make out an invisible blade of wind flying at him from Naruto's sword. As he jumped into the air to avoid it, he heard the breeze blow through the trees. Immediately the world spun upside down.

Landing in a roll, on the sky or earth, whatever it really was. He cancelled the technique. Looking around he could see Sakura standing at the edge of the field, high up in a tree. Her hands still locked in the ram seal.

Saru's eyes widened,

'That's how she's doing it!' He thought,

'She's picking up sound waves that are already heading my way and infusing a genjutsu into them. That's why there isn't any obvious trigger, she uses completely normal sounds to embed the technique.'

Using sound to trigger a genjutsu was not unheard of. In fact his former student, Orochimaru had favored the idea, but it was always a sound that could be controlled, such as a whistle, bells or some kind of musical instrument. The idea of using nature's sounds was incredible.

He could see both Sasuke and Naruto land near Sakura. All three stared down at him.

When he saw Naruto begin making more hand seals, and Sasuke running down the tree towards him. He quickly threw a pair of shuriken at Naruto. The metal stars force him to dodge, not completing the technique.

In a matter of seconds, he completed his own jutsu and called out,

"Ninpo: Kanashibari no Jutsu!" Sasuke faltered in mid step as the heavy killing intent washed over him. Sarutobi calmly walked up and gave him a hard chop to the neck, rendering him unconscious.

Looking back up at the tree, he could see that Sakura and Naruto were still standing there, unsure of what to do now that Sasuke was unconscious. Sarutobi reached into his weapon's pouch and threw a single kunai with an explosive note at the pair of ANBU trainees.

As the large explosion decimated the tree, he saw the pair jump in opposite directions. Without missing a beat he took off after Sakura, quickly catching up to the already winded genjutsu user. Without so much as breaking a sweat, he dodged her pitiful taijutsu attempts and hit her hard in the stomach.

She too fell to the ground unconscious.

Turning around he saw Naruto standing not to far away frantically trying to make some hand seals. Unfortunately the old man quickly beat him to it.

"Kokuoangyuu no Jutsu (Bringer of Darkness)"

Suddenly Naruto's world went completely dark. He couldn't hear or see anything. Within seconds he felt a sharp blow to the neck and the dark ground rushing up to meet him

--

Some time later Naruto groaned and tried to stand up, only to find himself tied to a tree. Shaking his head, he found that his mask was still in place. He tried to move his hands, but they were tied tightly with the fingers bound by a wire to keep him from making hand seals.

Looking from side to side he could see that both of his teammates were similarly bound together.

"Well now that we're all awake. I can finally finish this exam"

Naruto and his teammates looked up to see Sarutobi sitting a rock calmly taking a puff off an old wooden pipe.

"By all rights I should fail all three of you."

Naruto was about to yell back, but Sarutobi just continued on.

"The academy was right. By all means you are each a genius. Sakura, I have only ever once seen someone use all the natural sounds around them to create a genjutsu. However, the moment that I covered all sounds with a large explosion, you were rendered useless. I picked apart your taijutsu with pathetic ease."

He turned his head towards Sasuke,

"And Uchiha Sasuke. The Avenger… You are so unlike your brother"

Naruto could feel Sasuke bristle with anger beside him,

"You were excellent with your taijutsu, far faster than either of your teammates. But the moment I kept you from moving with a single ninjutsu that is taught to all ANBU, you froze. I didn't even have to fight you, just a simple chop to the neck."

He then turned his steady gaze towards Naruto,

"And Naruto, the 'Ninjutsu Genius'" he said with obvious sarcasm.

"You're good with ninjutsu, but you stand in one spot, relying on teammates to create openings for you. Once Sasuke and Sakura was down, one good genjutsu and you might of well of been dead."

Standing up he threw a kunai and cut the rope bindings.

"All of you follow me."

He led them back over to the edge of the Hokage monument. The sun was now fully over the horizon and basking the entire city in its warm glow. The civilians were just beginning to leave their homes on their way to work.

"I will not lie to you three like the council wishes." All three ninja turned their attention back towards the old man.

"You three have been chosen to be trained as the newest free response team. You will undergo several years of intensive training with myself and various other instructors."

Sakura interrupted,

"Wait, a free response team?"

Saru nodded his head,

"When I was first training my original genin team. I came up with the concept. The team would be made up of three exceptional shinobi. Who would be trained to undertake the missions that no one else could. To go into impossible missions, and not only succeed, but to come back from them."

Pointing down to the likeness of Tsunade,

"It was a resounding success, and it arguably won us the second great shinobi war. They were named the 'Densetsu no Sannin' (Three Legendary Shinobi) after they fought Hanzo outside Amegakure to a stand still. Something that no other team had ever accomplished. After that, we tried to make several others, but before they could finish their training, one of them died and the team fell apart. The only sole exception to this rule is the original Ino-Shika-Cho team. But they were formed during a time of peace and were allowed to grow before being fed to the wolves."

Sarutobi remained silent for a minute, allowing Naruto time to voice his question.

"So why are they making a new one?"

Sarutobi frowned,

"The Sannin it seems were not as perfect as I had hoped for. One of my students Orochimaru fled the village, and is apparently now trying to raise an army to destroy it"

Silence reigned again at that rather morbid thought; finally Sasuke began asking a question,

"Neither of those other teams were ever a part of ANBU, so why are we?"

Sarutobi actually smiled at that question,

"Very astute Sasuke. Ironically, you were put into the organization with the highest mortality rate, to protect you."

Seeing their questioning looks he continued,

"You see, when word gets out about a new free response team being trained. Some country would always attempt an assassination or would target the team on missions. By placing you into ANBU, all of your movements, living quarters, training schedules, everything thing about you is classified. That way it greatly reduces any attempts on your life."

All three of the new genin shuddered at the thought of so many people being out to get them.

"The three of you failed my exam horribly. However, it appears that Tsunade's changes in the academy were not all in vain. You worked together in a battle that you knew that you stood no chance of winning."

Sarutobi turned and began walking back towards the forest,

"I have made up my mind. I will train you for six month at the most. During that time you will obey every command that I give, or I will wipe your memory and send you away. If you wish to continue, go to your homes, gather whatever belongings you can fit into the bag that your uniforms came in, and meet me here by noon. If you do not return I will assume that you do not with to continue, and will act accordingly"

With that he once again left. All three genin began making there way down the mountainside towards their respective homes.

--

"So, what do you think of them?" asked Sarutobi

Tsunade jumped out of the tree and landed beside him.

"They definitely show promise, but they are all overly specified. The academy has improved, but it still has a lot of work to be done it seems"

Sarutobi nodded,

"In there individual fields they are all well into upper chuunin skills, but they are so weak in the others that they are barely genin"

Tsunade nodded her head,

"So what do you have in mind?"

Sarutobi chuckled,

"You're going to love this"

He handed her a scroll that he had written down his new training schedule. Tsunade busted out laughing when she read the first two steps.

"I don't know if that's cruel, or downright ingenious, but I can guarantee that they will hate you for it."

Sarutobi nodded,

"So I have a couple of preteen kids mad at me. At least I can rest knowing that they will have the best teamwork in the village"

Tsunade laughed,

"That or they're kill one another"

Sarutobi laughed,

"Maybe, but I don't think so. They are all rather lonely children, I think this is a chance that they have all been secretly wishing for"

Tsunade shook her head and just started walking away,

"Whatever, just don't kill them"

Sarutobi just chuckled and walked back into the woods,

"Just get back to the paperwork you old hag"

Tsunade spun on her heel,

"WHO ARE YOU TO CALL ME OLD!!!"

But he was already gone,

"Damned old fool" she mumbled to herself.

--

Sakura stood in her room, staring at the small desk that sat in the corner. When she was younger it had been covered with all her pictures of Sasuke and different types of makeup.

But she had grown out of that. Two years ago, her brother Sora went out on a simple C-rank mission that went awry. After that she had moved in with her grandmother.

A small tear ran down her cheek as she thought about her brother. Both her parents had been killed when the kyuubi attacked and ever since then it had been just her and her brother.

When he died, her whole world that she had carefully built up came crashing down around her. That's when her grandmother took her under her wing and began teaching her sound based genjutsu. She had dived into it with a passion.

Looking down at the table, she picked up a small blue music box. She lifted its lid and let the soft music break the silence. She stood there listening to the box for a couple of minutes. Inside the lid were two pictures. The first showed a pink haired man with his arms around a young blonde woman, a young boy just into his early teens stood next to them with a new shiny hitai-ite. The mother was holding a tiny baby in her arms. The picture next to it was more recent. It was just her and her brother. He was teaching her how to throw senbon needles with a large smile on his face.

"You're leaving aren't you?"

She shut the box and turned around,

"Baasan" She was surprised to see her standing there. She had been so caught up in her memories that she hadn't heard her approach.

"You have an ANBU mask on your belt, so I assume that you can't tell me about it."

Sakura nodded her head. Her grandmother walked over to her, supporting her thin frame on a wooden cane.

She stopped right in front of Sakura and dropped the cane and grabbed the young girl in a tight hug.

"Please come back…" Her voice was full of emotion. She never said anything else and she quickly let go and left the room. She knew that by Konoha law, her granddaughter was no more.

Sakura stood there, tears starting to run down her cheeks. She put the music box in he bag, along with several other belongings. A couple of her favorite books, some genjutsu scrolls and a pillow, that her brother had given her for her eighth birthday.

She was about to pull the bag shut when she looked back at her desk. Hesitating for a moment, she picked up her music box, wrapped it in a spare shirt, and placed it inside of her bag.

Pulling the string tight, she put the bag on her back and the mask back on her face and jumped out the window onto he roof.

--

Sasuke stood in his spartan room at the quiet Uchiha compound, his mother's ninjato resting in his hands.

Tears almost started forming at his eyes,

It was almost four years ago since Itachi had killed them all. Only four short years, but he couldn't remember her voice. He didn't remember what his own mother's voice sounded like.

Shaking his head from such thoughts, he put the ninjato into his back and began packing supplies into his bag. He couldn't think about the past now. He finally had a chance to get stronger, to finally be able to kill his brother.

He grabbed several different taijutsu scrolls off the shelf in his room. He had scoured the Uchiha library for almost anything that he could find that would help him.

When he was younger, he was originally enamored by the idea of being a ninjutsu specialist like his brother and so many others in the clan. But when they were all killed, he lost his interest.

Itachi killed all of them. All the genjutsu and ninjutsu experts, but not a single one was an expert in taijutsu. They were lazy, and the sharingan made it easy to excel in the others. So he had thrown his entire life into taijutsu, hoping that it would give him an edge over his brother.

Only time would tell.

Shouldering his bag, he calmly walked out of the house, locking it behind him and made his way back to the monument.

--

Naruto stood in his small single room apartment. His bag was almost full of spare clothing, ninjutsu scrolls and the like. The last scroll he owned was sitting in his hands. It was a small dark blue scroll that had a large nodachi sealed inside of it.

The Hokage had given it to him on his sixth birthday, saying that it was his mothers. She wouldn't tell him anything about his parents outside of that his father was a ninjutsu expert and his mother used a nodachi.

The Hokage had always made an effort to see him from time to time when he was younger, but he had fallen by the wayside in more recent years. They were never particularly close to being with anyways.

The sword wasn't much, but it was all he had. Its what prompted him to follow those two paths. He had thrown himself into ninjutsu with an almost fanatical passion.

The nodachi was the only thing that his parent's had ever left him. All in all it was a rather simple blade. The only unique pieces about it are that the blade itself had a slight blue tinge to it. And the guard and sheath had a matching swirl, although the sheath's swirl looked to be made out of sapphire. It was a beautiful blade, but until he was at least five feet tall, he had no hopes of using it.

Sighing, he placed the sealed sword into his pants pocket.

As he left his apartment, he tossed his keys and last rent check into the landlord's mailbox.

'Not like I'm going to be needing it anytime soon' he thought

--

The sun was just reaching its peak when the team met up back at the top of the Hokage monument. They all arrived within a few minutes of each other.

"Good, you're all here"

Sarutobi walked back in from along the same trail he had left on earlier. He motioned for the three of them to follow him. The path was generally unremarkable, the only reason it was of any interest is because it was such a well-worn path considering how far out from the village they were.

Finally after walking for near ten minutes they entered a small clearing with a tiny shack at the center. Sarutobi turned to face them.

"It is extremely important that you do not step off the beaten trail when you go into that cabin. It is one of the five hidden entrances into the ANBU headquarters. If you step off of it, a series of security seals will be immediately alerted."

All three of the students nodded their heads. Seeing their confirmation, Sarutobi led them into the cabin.

Once they reached the door and opened it, it became obvious that here was no cabin. Instead there was what appeared to be a large steel elevator with a series of buttons.

Saru pushed them in and pressed a button, seemingly at random. The door shut and they began moving downwards.

"Contrary to popular belief the rooms inside the Hokage monument are not just for emergencies. They also house the ANBU headquarters. We are going to the floor that will work as your home for the upcoming months."

When the elevator came to a stop, Sarutobi led them out and into a long hallway. It was painted off white and had harsh fluorescent lighting. Other than the slight hum of the lights though, the hallway was dead silent. Sarutobi led them down the hallway, until they came to a door labeled.

"Team Saru?" Naruto asked in confusion as he read the placard.

"Normally the team is named after their team leader. Since you are all just candidates, you are named after the sixth months are done, the Hokage will assign you each a codename. Until then we will be training in secrecy so there is no point in codenames."

The three nodded their heads,

"Good" with that he pushed open the metal plated door. It opened to what looked like one big common room. It had a wooden couch, with blue upholstery and two small chairs that were similarly designed. To the left was a small kitchen, complete with stove, fridge, dishwasher, and what appeared to be stocked cupboards.

The team walked inside and began inspecting what appeared to be a completely normal apartment. To the right of the common room was a hallway with two doors. One door opened up to a large bedroom. It had three futons on the floor along with a large trunk to store personal effects. Across from each futon was a black wood desk. At the foot of each bed was another stack of ANBU uniforms. All in all the room was rather spartan, but that was to be expected.

"Umm… Sensei?" Sakura asked,

"You're concerned about the room arrangements I imagine?" He replied, already guessing what the problem was.

Sakura nodded her head.

"Most of our younger female candidates voice similar complaints. However, your two partners will become closer to you than family. You will share everything and there are no secrets between ANBU members. There is only one bedroom in each apartment in this complex. Similarly the bathroom across the hall is made for several people. There are separate shower stalls and toilet stalls, but there is only one onsen that is made for several people. Not that I'm saying to prance about in the nude mind you"

All three of the candidates blushed furiously behind their masks.

"It will take you a while to get used to the accommodations, but it will make you a stronger team in the long run."

He pointed to the various beds,

"The first bed is Sasuke's, then Sakura's, and the furthest is Naruto's. Take a few minutes and begin setting out your gear and getting settled it. Get a good nights sleep tonight, we will begin tomorrow morning promptly at 5am."

With a short, "Hai sensei" the team answered, and Sarutobi motioned for them to follow him over to the main room.

"I need you to all kneel" Seeing the confusion that all three of the students wore, he decided to expand on what he meant.

"Before I can begin the training, you all must be marked as ANBU" He turned and showed the team his right arm, just below the right bicep.

"This is the mark of ANBU. Each operative has one. It is a sign to all those around you that you are not someone to be trifled with. It is also what will allow you access to all of our facilities once you become a full member"

All three students nodded and knelt down on the floor. Sarutobi made a quick hand seal

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu (shadow clone)" Two clones sprung forth. Each one went to one of the three shinobi and began making seals.

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that kami may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath."

Finishing the last seal he slammed his open palm onto the exposed bicep of his students arm. Searing pain filled the flesh as the ANBU symbol was etched into their arms.

"And that is so you remember it" He took a deep breath and dispelled his clones,

"Rise ANBU your story is only just beginning. The mark that adorns your arm is the constant reminder that all of us are damned by the flesh, but saved by the blood"

He began to walk out of the room and towards the main door.

"Once I leave this room, you will be locked inside until I let you back out."

With that he walked through the door and closed it. Once closed, the cracks around the door all glowed brightly for a second, before the door settled firmly in place. Once it was locked, they began walking back to the bedroom. The clock on the wall showed that it was only a little past two.

When Naruto got into the bedroom, Sakura was already putting her clothes away in the trunk.

All three of them had removed their masks and set them down on their respective desks. At the back of the desk, Naruto spotted a large rest that was meant to hold an ANBU's sword. With a smile, he opened his pocket and removed the scroll that contained his mother's nodachi. With a swipe of blood across the seal and a small poof, the long sword appeared in his hands. Running is hand fondly across the sheath; he stared at he blue swirl. The sudden appearance of the sword had not gone unnoticed by his roommates and partners.

"Hey Naruto, what's with the sword?" asked Sakura

Naruto turned to see his roommates looking at him.

"It was my mother's, at least that's what the Hokage told me. Once I'm strong enough I intend to use it"

Surprisingly it was Sasuke, who broke the silence,

"My mother was also a kenjutsu specialist"

Naruto stared at Sasuke like he had grown a second head,

"Sasuke, that is the single largest piece of information that you have ever shared about yourself"

Sasuke shrugged,

"I never had a reason to before. I was always training to kill him, but now I'm finally one step closer to surpassing him"

Sakura, who was placing a her small blue music box on the table, looked over at him,

"You mean your brother don't you?"

Sasuke's eyes grew dark,

"That man is no brother of mine"

Sensing that Sasuke did not want to push the subject any further, Naruto tried for a change in subject.

"What do you think that Sensei meant when he said that ANBU are 'Damned by the flesh, saved by the blood?"

Sasuke shrugged, but Sakura answered,

"I assume the damned by the flesh part is about the ANBU being damned because of what just being one entails, but I don't know about the blood"

--

Sarutobi made his way down the long hallways and maze of corridors that was ANBU headquarters. After finally reaching the room he was looking for, he knocked before just walking in.

The room was filled with blank masks. A single old man sat at the desk at the far side slowly and painstakingly drawing symbols onto the masks.

"Did you finish the three masks that I asked for?"

The old man didn't say anything, but he pointed at a table behind him that had a series of three masks. They were almost completely white still, save for a few small seals that were a little different on each mask.

"Thanks" he replied and walked out of the room and towards the entrance to the Hokage tower.

After several minutes of walking, he was outside his old office door. With a quick knock he strode in.

"So Tsunade-hime, what have you decided on?"

Tsunade chuckled,

"You're going to love this team"

--

Early the next morning, a blaring alarm went off inside the teams' room. All three of the young ANBU sluggishly got out of bed and began dressing quickly. Sakura went into the bathroom the change to give herself a little privacy.

…Apparently Naruto had no such qualms, that or he was to tired to notice the girl in the room…

Within a half hour, all three of them were showered and eating a simple breakfast of milk and cereal. Except for Naruto, who was on cup four of instant ramen.

"That… is disgusting…" commented a slack jawed Sasuke as his teammate ravenously shoveled another cup of ramen down his throat.

"I agree" commented his pink haired teammate.

The three finished the meal in silence. None of them were really morning people, so it was just better for everyone if no one talked. A few minutes before five, the walked back into their room and donned their masks, along with the rest of the gear that they hadn't put on.

Sure enough, promptly at 5am the door into the apartment made a hissing noise and opened to reveal Saru standing there holding a small bag in one hand.

"Good you're all here and ready to go."

The three young shinobi were standing next to each other, each one looking like the picture perfect ANBU, just a little shorter.

"Take off your masks"

Each of them slowly took the mask off of their faces. Saru walked over and collected them and then handed them each a new mask, they were almost identical to their originals except they had a couple of seals that were written on the outside. Each of them took the mask that Saru handed them and placed it on there face.

Once they all had them attached he made a one-handed ram seal,

"Fuuin" (Seal)

The masks felt like they suctioned around their faces. Naruto, taken by surprise tried to yell out, but no sound came out. No matter how hard he yelled, he couldn't even here himself.

Looking around, he saw Sasuke clutching desperately at the eyes of his mask, trying to pull it off or something. Similarly, Sakura was grabbing her mask near where her ears were located.

Finally Sasuke yelled out

"What the hell did you do? I can't see anything!"

Saru chuckled,

"Each of you are deadly in your chosen field, but you have become over reliant on one particular sense."

Noticing that Sakura was growing more and more frantic, he pulled out a scroll opened it and handed it to her,

"Until you learn the ANBU hand signals and how to read lips, you can follow along using this scroll Sakura. It will immediately transcribe anything that I say onto it."

Sakura, reading what he had just said, nodded her head in understanding.

"Good, now as I was saying" as he turned to address the group as a whole again, "The seals on your masks will completely block your most used sense unless you are in a life or death situation. For Naruto, that means that you cannot talk, and thusly are unable to use any of those ninjutsu that you have become over reliant on. Sasuke, you depend solely on your sight in taijutsu, so I have sealed away your vision. And Sakura, for you to use your genjutsu, you have to be able to hear the sounds that you so adeptly manipulate. So I have sealed your hearing."

All three preteens just stood there shocked. The skills that they had worked so hard to earn had just been taken away by an old man and a porcelain mask.

"So with that, lets get to the training grounds"

--

Tsunade and Kakashi stood on a balcony at the side of the shinobi training grounds. The basic grounds were all enclosed in the mountain's caves. As long as you didn't use any big jutsu you were safe. Plus it kept you away from the prying eyes of the other ninja.

"So what do you think of them Kakashi" asked Tsunade as they watched the team below them stumble through a basic obstacle course that required teamwork to complete efficiently. Saru stood behind his team, barking out commands for different formations and drills as they went.

Kakashi laughed,

"I've got to give it to him. I never would of thought to seal away their strengths and force them to work together like this. That man really is a genius"

Kakashi cringed as he saw Naruto get nailed a log that dropped down on top of him. Seconds later Sasuke tripped over the same log, and Sakura who was in front missed the whole thing because she couldn't see or hear them.

Kakashi palmed his face,

"They may have been geniuses in the academy, but it's painfully obvious that they are way below the ANBU par. Do we have any idea of what there elemental alignments are?"

Tsunade looked over at him for a second before refocusing on the team below,

"They haven't been tested yet, but Sarutobi says that Sasuke seems to be aligned to lightning, Sakura to earth and Naruto to both wind and fire"

Kakashi stared back down at the genin,

"Wind and fire? That's unusual given that they don't usually go together. Is the fire from Kyuubi?"

Tsunade nodded,

"That's what we suspect. The wind he would get from both his parents, but no one in either of those families was ever known for having a fire alignment"

Kakashi nodded his head,

"So does he know about Kyuubi?"

Tsunade shook her head. Below, the team had finally worked together to get through the course. By running in a triangle, they were able to utilize each other's senses. Naruto took the lead and would make simple hand signals to Sakura who would translate to Sasuke. It was crude, but effective.

"It doesn't appear so"

She finally replied,

"So when are you going to tell him?" He asked.

"When they complete their training in six months."

--

Time passed quickly for the team of ANBU. Each morning Saru would meet them at five and begin there training. After the first several weeks, their changes became more and more apparent.

Naruto was becoming devastating with his sword. He was naturally slower than Sasuke, but he found that by infusing his muscles with all the chakra that he could no longer use for ninjutsu, he was able to easily keep pace. His speed along with the reach of his long nodachi that he had begun using was an extremely deadly mix.

Sasuke no longer relied on his sight to keep track of his enemies. He was now extremely adept at tracking things by sounds alone. Both he and Naruto had trained extensively with Saru to learn saruken (monkey fist). It incorporated a large amount of aerobatics that suited both Naruto's sword techniques and Sasuke's taijutsu and kenjutsu. He had begun learning some ninjutsu, but it was obvious that he would never reach the levels that Naruto was aiming for.

Sakura was probably the most surprising of the three. She took her loss of hearing hard, but in the end it only strengthened her resolve. She knew that she would never be the ninjutsu and taijutsu monsters that were her teammates, but she had thrown herself into the study of medic techniques. She was deadly accurate with her senbon needles. With the help of Saru she had begun using her earth element to feel for the vibrations that people around her made on the ground. She was still unable to use her genjutsu but this new Sakura was emerging to be just as deadly.

Every few weeks, Tsunade would stop by the training facility with Kakashi to check up on the team. Today though was the end of their second month, and it was time for their first real mission as a team.

She watched below them as team ran a more difficult gauntlet that culminated with a spar with their sensei. Even after months of training, they still couldn't land a single blow on the old man.

Naruto ran forward, moving so quickly that he was just a black blur, a blur that was quickly stopped by a lightning fast kick to the leg. As he rolled on the ground, he came up holding a bleeding hand.

"Do not stop Naruto!" Yelled their sensei, "Blood is just red sweat"

Naruto made drew the blade off his back and began his assault anew, but this time he wasn't alone. Sasuke appeared behind his sensei and aimed a thrust straight at the man's back.

Sarutobi was quick though, and slid to the side, avoiding the attack completely. He then threw a halfhearted kick at the boy's midsection, only for the blind child to dodge towards the side and a barrage of poisoned senbon to rain down upon the area.

Seeing that both Naruto and Sasuke had reformed for a pincer attack, and that Sakura was still ready to back them up with long-range weapons, Saru called for an end to the spar.

"Very good team. You are all getting better, however you are far from being what the world will expect from you. Now go and shower and come back here within a half hour, I believe the Hokage has a mission for us"

All three heads perked up at the mention of a mission, but no one said a word. They had been told what to do already; they would have time to learn about the mission when the time came.

All three of them filed out into the hallway and towards their room.

"Do you think its wise to send them on a mission so soon Sarutobi-sensei?" questioned the blonde haired Hokage.

"They need a break from their training, something to get them out of this damn cave for at least a couple of days. They may try to act like true shinobi, but in reality they are still frightened children."

The Hokage nodded her head, remembering her days when she and her team had first started training him.

"I have a fairly simple mission for them. The four of you will be guarding a monk on his way to the cloisters in the mountains to the north. There isn't any trouble expected, but it's a fairly long travel and the terrain is tough."

Sarutobi nodded his head,

"That will work perfectly:

--

Soon enough all three of the trainees were situated back in the training facility as the Hokage gave them the outline of their first mission.

"The monk's name is Iwakura Yukikatsu. He is a monk who is traveling to a new cloister in the mountains far north of Konoha. There isn't any real expectation of running into any ninja up there, but the possibility of bandits is always there. It shouldn't take anymore than two weeks to complete the journey, so prepare accordingly"

The three trainee ANBU nodded their heads and quickly disappeared back to their rooms to pack for the trip.

The Hokage looked up at Saru,

"Yukikatsu will meet you at the top of the Hokage monument and you may leave from there. Bring them back in one piece Sarutobi"

With that she turned and marched out of the room, leaving the old man alone for a few seconds before his team returned to him. With a waive of his hand he led them out of the facility and into the elevator.

"When you step outside of this elevator, remember that you are ANBU, but you are also going to be the ones who need to create a name for yourselves. Do not purposefully draw attention to yourselves, but if you do find yourselves under scrutiny, make sure you leave in a positive light."

By the time his speech was finished, the elevator was already at the surface of the mountain.

A short walk down the road, the found the young looking monk sitting quietly in a lotus position, meditating silently.

"You shinobi are a most interesting group" he said suddenly, "You walk without making a sound. But you can always tell when the ANBU are near. When you guys come, the earth itself falls silent."

Opening his eyes, he surveyed the four ninja standing in front of him,

"And now you are training children in your barbaric ways"

The man stood up,

"Well let's be on our way, we have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall"

--

Naruto had always imagined that monks were quiet old men who lived far out of the reach of society. They were supposed to be kind and wise.

This man however was none of those things. It had become painfully apparent that he held no love for shinobi and their 'barbaric ways of life'. He spent most of the day degrading them as they went. Informing them about how the gods would never forgive them for their crimes.

Finally after nightfall, the man finally stopped talking when he fell asleep. Soon after both Sasuke and Sakura had followed him to sleep and only Naruto and Saru remained stationed around the fire.

"You seem oddly quiet tonight Naruto, what's on your mind?" Saru asked

Naruto may not be able to talk, but he was still the most expressive of anyone on the team. His body language alone always spoke volumes. It turned out to be an excellent weapon for him in fights. His silence and goofy act only enraged his opponents.

So he may be unable to talk, but he was most definitely not mute.

Taking out a small scroll, Naruto scribbled something down on it and handed it to his sensei.

It simply read, "Religion,"

Sarutobi nodded his head,

"Ah, of course this particular mission would raise some questions for you. What is it that you are wondering about it?"

Naruto took back he scroll and wrote down another question,

"What do you believe?"

Sarutobi sighed,

"I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god desires is here"

He tapped Naruto lightly on his head,

"And here" as he repeated the action over the blonde's heart

"And what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man - or not."

Naruto nodded his head and lay down. It had been a long day, and he had a gut feeling that tomorrow wouldn't be a whole lot easier.

--

Despite what he had anticipated, the day passed without anything of interest occurring. The days came and went in sort of an uneasy silence. He remembered what Saru-sensei had told them,

"Silence is golden to an ANBU. When we are in he field, we do not talk unless absolutely necessary. You will find that silence is the most exquisite revenge for insults, nothing pisses them off more"

Admittedly it didn't matter to Naruto whether sensei wanted them to talk or not, since the seal on his mask prevented him from talking at all. But the monk seemed rather unnerved by his silence.

"Hey Saru, what's with these kids that you have? They don't seem quite right in the head. Especially that blonde one, the other two at least talk from time to time, but I haven't heard that one say a single word the entire journey."

The older masked man chuckled,

"I assure that all three of my students are perfectly sane."

He left the message at that though. His mind was focused on a narrowing in the path just ahead. There were people hiding in the bushes and trees.

'Most likely a group of thieves waiting for us to pass' He thought to himself.

Looking ahead just in front of him, he could see that his team had also noticed the presence just ahead and had begun to prepare accordingly. As they got closer he could see Sasuke begin making a few discrete hand seals.

Sure enough, one they were in the narrowed area, a large man wielding an axe walked out in front of them and motioned for them to stop.

"This road here belongs to me and my gang" the thug motioned to several other men who began coming out of the foliage. Two of the larger ones came to stand next to him, trying to look as intimidating as possible.

"Just hand over all your money and we may let you all live."

Saru was about to answer the man when the brash monk yelled,

"Who are you to try to steal from a Monk, a man of God? Surely you will burn in hell for these actions!"

The man smiled, revealing sickeningly yellowed teeth,

"Hell? We already live in a world of hell"

He motioned for his men to attack when Sasuke yelled out,

"Goukakyuu no jutsu!"

A huge red and yellow fireball roared down the open path, quickly incinerating the three largest men in front of them. Two others made to jump from the trees on either side, but Naruto's steel quickly dispatched them. Even Sakura got into the action when one of the men that was behind them tried to jump them, she spun around and imbedded several senbon deep into the man's skull.

When six of their best fighters fell to three children in a matter of seconds the other thieves took off running into the woods.

The monk dropped to his knees,

"What senseless violence. Why would you do that to them?"

He was half questioning, half yelling at the three children in front of him.

"They were thieves, yes. But even they do not deserve to be chopped down like a weed that has grown in our path. What would make you do something as hideous as that!" He pointed at the three still burning bodies in front of the group.

Sasuke was surprisingly the one, who answered,

"Sometimes it is entirely appropriate to crush the fly with a sledgehammer."

The monk's face grew red and he made to slap the ignorant child when Saru grabbed his wrist. Turning to face the older man, the monk spat out,

"You should of let me just beat his ass"

Saru shook his head and motioned to Naruto and Sakura. Naruto had already taken his sword back out and Sakura had palmed a few of the senbon,

"Beat his ass? I just saved yours"

The monk shrugged his wrist out the other man's vise like grip.

"Whatever, we are only several miles away from the monastery. Lets hurry up so I can leave your barbaric group"

With that he took off down the trail, carefully avoiding the corpses that lined the road.

Sarutobi shook his head,

"Good job team" was all he said before following the monk down the path. The other three stood there for a second staring at the six dead men. Wordlessly they piled them up and Sasuke set blaze to them before quietly saying

"Damned by the flesh"

And Sakura finished,

"Saved by the blood"

Naruto finished by making some signs in the ANBU hand signals,

"We will kill, so that others may live"

They had been taught that motto from their first days as ANBU trainees. Saru and the other ANBU that would appear from time to time had drilled it into their heads.

But it had never been more real that it was at that moment.

Looking up, the three nodded at each other, before taking to the trees and sprinting ahead to catch up to their sensei.

--

The rest of the trip was uneventful; the monk had finally silenced himself. Just before nightfall they reached the outer gates of the monastery. There the team left the monk and turned around to leave.

"Thank you"

The team stopped, and saw the monk staring back at them.

"I may not agree with your methods, but you got me here safely, so thank you"

All four of the masked ninja merely nodded their heads before they disappeared into the trees like they had never been at all.

It only took two days to return. They immediately went to the Hokages office for Saru to give the report.

"Good job team Saru" Tsunade filed the mission report into her out box and looked back down at the team.

"Go back to your training. Soon enough there will be more missions and exams for you, but for now, take a day of rest. Go out to the town, get something to eat, just remember that you leave your masks back at the training facility. You will have just twelve hours free of them, after that, you will resume being ANBU"

The three young ANBU nodded and left the office, making there way back to the ANBU headquarters.

"They are progressing nicely Tsunade-chan" Said Sarutobi as he removed his mask and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs.

"But I think that giving them that short break for the next day may be a wise move. They may be excellent shinobi in the making, but they are still children"

Tsunade nodded her head in agreement,

"They take the ANBU seriously enough that it is no harm in letting them out for a short time. Besides I would like a full report of their progress from you"

Sarutobi nodded,

"Their teamwork is becoming flawless. When they are on a mission or in training, they hardly ever talk. They rarely even use the hand signs that so many of the ANBU have become overly reliant on. Instead they have learned to read each other's body language. However outside of the missions and training, they still joke around and act like any normal child their age. I would say that they are possibly the most sane ninja in ANBU"

--

The three teammates were walking down the city street quietly. It was just noon when they were released. The moment they were in the room and Naruto had been able to remove his mask, the young blonde had insisted that they three of them go to Ichiraku ramen for lunch.

After a small dispute, they had finally given in to his demands. So after a quick shower the three of them were walking down the crowded roads of Konoha, towards the small ramen stand.

"Its weird you know?" Naruto said quietly,

Sasuke nodded his head. Event he stoic Uchiha had to admit that after two months of seeing almost no one but the each other and their sensei, being thrown back into society for a short time was extremely awkward.

"Hey guys" Sakura said, "After we're done at lunch, do you think we could go see my grandmother for a short time at least?"

Sasuke and Naruto, having no family of their own, both held any family in high regard. They immediately agreed to Sakura's request.

Seeing the ramen stand just down the road, Naruto let out a whoop of joy and sprinted down the road, gracefully vaulting over anyone who got in his way. At one point he even used a small fruit stand to flip over a busy intersection.

Sasuke and Sakura laughed at his antics as they followed at a more sedate pace behind them. Sakura turned to look at her dark haired teammate,

"You just laughed"

Sasuke looked confused for a moment before Sakura restated what she had said,

"You just laughed. I haven't heard you do that in years."

Sasuke understood what she was implying, what she really meant was,

"I haven't heard you laugh since your brother killed your clan"

Sasuke just shrugged,

"Maybe its just that I finally have found a reason to laugh again"

With that he slipped beneath the small cloth covered entrance to the ramen stand and sat down beside his blonde haired teammate.

Sakura shook her head and took the seat on the other side of Naruto, who was already scarfing down what appeared to be a second bowl of ramen. The team sat in an amiable silence while eating their food. Naruto made a little small talk with the chefs at the stand, while skillfully avoiding any questions as to where he had been for the last couple of months. In fact they way he interacted with the pair, it was as if he had never left to begin with.

"Hey Ossan!" Naruto yelled out to the older ramen chef, "Give me another one of your miso ramen"

The old man smiled and began preparing another dish. From behind them they heard someone yell,

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura is that you in there?"

The team turned around to see six other young genin making their way across the street towards them. Ino was the one who had spotted them and led the other ones over.

"Where have you guys been? We haven't seen you in like months?" asked the rather annoying blonde haired girl as she immediately flung herself at the stationary Sasuke.

Acting on instinct, Sasuke moved quickly out of the way and Ino slammed face first into the wooden wall of the stand.

Sakura giggled,

"I guess some things haven't changed at all"

Kiba walked up behind Naruto and slung an arm around the blonde's shoulders,

"So really, what have you guys been up to? We haven't seen any of you since we graduated from the academy."

Naruto shrugged and scratched the back of his head,

"Well, you know, we've been training and doing missions and stuff"

Kiba laughed,

"Man missions are such a bummer"

Naruto looked confused,

I don't know, I never thought that they were that bad"

Kiba looked astounded, but surprisingly it was Shikamaru, who started talking,

"I have to agree with Naruto. D-rank missions are boring, but it's less troublesome than the higher ranked missions. At least we don't have to leave the village"

Sakura sent Naruto a look, conveying to him that talking about missions was not a good idea. Sasuke picked up on it and changed the subject.

"We haven't been doing too many missions really, most of the time has been doing some chakra control missions and teamwork stuff"

Luckily no one seemed to notice the subtle shift from the topic.

"Yeah, Asuma has been running us through all those stupid teamwork things all the time"

Said Ino. Shino suddenly broke into the conversation,

"Contrary to what would appear to be the popular opinion here. I feel that it is in our best interest to cultivate better relations and understanding between teammates"

Kiba and Ino stared at the quiet bug user, the only intelligent response that they could come up with was,

"Huh?"

Sakura shook her head,

"I'm sorry guys, but we only have a few hours before we need to meet back up with our Sensei, so we need to get going"

The team stood up and began making their way down the road. Leaving the other six rookie genin staring at them as they made there way down the road.

Ino was the first one to start up the conversation as they began walking down the road once more.

"Did anyone else think that they seemed a little different?"

Shikamaru just groaned,

"Yeah, but its way to troublesome to figure out why"

Ino smacked him upside the head and was going to yell at him but Hinata interrupted the dispute.

"Ano.. D-did anyone e-else n-notice that they're h-hitai-ite were all covering their r-right arm?"

Shino nodded,

"Indeed, they did seem to be acting rather unusual."

Ino huffed,

"Well whatever it is, Forehead had better tell me about it eventually"

--

The team was making its way down the path when an ANBU appeared in front of them.

"The three of you are to report to the Hokage's office immediately"

The three nodded and disappeared following the ANBU across the rooftops. As they went Sakura could see Naruto wordlessly asking,

'Why does she want to see us now?'

Sakura shrugged

'I don't know. Maybe something came up that she wanted to tell us'

Sasuke moved and said,

'Whatever it is, lets just get it over with already'

The ANBU leading them was surprised b the wordless conversation that was going on between the three trainees that were following closely behind him. Normally that kind of teamwork was only seen between teammates that had been working together for years, not between a new team.

As soon as they made it to the Hokage tower, they all leapt up to the small balcony on the third floor. From there it was just a brief walk down the hallway to the door.

After knocking, the ANBU stuck his head inside the doorway.

"Tsunade-sama, the team is here to see you"

Tsunade nodded her head,

"Good send them in"

The ANBU nodded and then sent the three in.

"I'm sorry to have to cut your time off a little short, but a opportunity arose and I would like you three to take it"

The team nodded in agreement, but Sakura asked,

"What's the opportunity Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade nodded towards the ANBU guard, who walked out into the hallway.

"The Daimyo has stationed a small unit of Samurai just to our north, along the border that we share with Iwa. I want you three to go and learn from them for a short while. Both Naruto and Sasuke have expressed interest in learning how to use a sword, and despite what many shinobi will tell you, very few shinobi can match a true samurai's skill with a sword."

The team nodded and an older man, wearing a simple kimono walked in. Tucked into his obi were a katana and a shorter wakizashi. Tsunade stood up and greeted the man,

"Welcome General Hosokawa, thank you for coming"

The older man bowed,

"Thank you Hokage-sama. It is a pleasure to finally meet with you in person. Are these they young trainees that you have talked about?"

Tsunade nodded her head,

"Yes, the two boys have both shown a great interest in studying the way of the sword. The girl is there other teammate."

The man nodded,

"I will take them for two months, the girl may study with our surgeons while they study the sword."

He turned towards the three children,

"Are you ready to learn?"

The three eagerly nodded their heads,

"Good, go and get your gear and meet me at the northern gate in two hours. From there we will leave. Your sensei has already informed me of the masks that you are to wear at all times and I have agreed to follow his directions."

The three nodded and left the room to fetch their gear. After the left, Hosokawa started talking again.

"So they are going to be the ones who will deal the strongest blows during the upcoming war?"

Tsunade shook her head

"We do not know for sure if war is even coming for sure"

The general laughed,

"Come now Tsunade, even the Daimyo knows that this war is imminent, and word has already began to trickle throughout the countries that you are training a new team. It is only a matter of time before someone will strike the first blows"

Tsunade made to argue, but the general cut her off,

"Look, I will train them the best that I can in the next couple of months, but ultimately they will be the ones on the front lines, not us. The faster that you acknowledge that, the better off you will be"

The general stood up and began walking towards the door,

"I will keep them safe Hokage-sama. Any ninja that dare to invade my camp will soon learn why the Samurai were once the most feared force at the Daimyo's discretion"

The man left, and Tsunade muttered,

"Arrogant fool…"

Sarutobi appeared leaning up against the wall behind her,

"Perhaps he is, but he is right you know. When their training is over, they will be the ones that are going to fight for us."

Tsunade grabbed a bottle of sake from the compartment in her desk. Pouring herself a cup she started talking,

"Look I know that, but I just don't agree with sending them out to a bunch of Samurai just doesn't seem like the smartest idea that you've ever had."

Sarutobi shrugged,

"Either way, they are my students and I will do what is best for them"

--

Several miles away, the three teens and General Hosokawa were just walking into the well-organized Samurai encampment.

"We have already erected a tent for the three of you. It is situated in the third row on the end. You may go and mingle with the men for the evening, but be aware that when day breaks, our training begins. You two"

He pointed to Sasuke and Naruto

"Will report to the infantry division to begin learning our way of the sword. While you"

He points to Sakura,

"Will be going to the surgeon's tents where you will be learning more about human anatomy than you will probably ever have wished to of known"

He looked at the group once more,

"The Hokage said that you have today off, so I will honor her request. The seals on your masks will not reactivate until midnight tonight. I do require that you wear the masks though, I cannot have your identities spread throughout the entire nation of the Hokage would have my head"

The teens both bowed and thanked the general before making their way towards where their tent was located. On their way they were watching the men who were making dinner or training in some fashion.

About halfway to their tent they could see a large group of young men yelling and jeering at some sort of contest. Hearing something moving in front of him, Naruto looked up to see a much larger teenage boy drop a large rock in front of him.

Naruto pointed at the rock and said,

"Umm… You seem to have dropped your rock"

The larger teen, who probably wasn't more than three years older than him grunted,

"A test of manhood"

Naruto, still wearing his blank mask stared at him,

"Umm… ok… You win"

He made to walk around the older boy, but the boy stuck a hand out and stopped him.

"Call it a test of a soldier then. The samurai will not allow us to wield swords until we turn fourteen, so we train with stones instead"

Naruto just kept staring at the boys face, but the boy kept talking anyways,

"But then you shinobi come walking into our camp like you're hot shit. Just barely out of your mother's womb and already carrying a sword and walking around like you run the camp? So I challenge you"

Naruto turned is head to the side at a goofy angle, obviously mocking the older boy,

"So what is this challenge?"

The boy picked up the large stone and hurled it an easy thirty or so feet. Naruto cocked his head to the other side.

"You have a strong throw. You could crush a man with such a throw"

The boy puffed out is chest,

"I could crush you like the little bug that you are shinobi"

Naruto turned to face the boy,

"Could you now?"

Naruto walked over and picked up the large stone and placed it back at the boy's feet, before moving to stand about twenty-five feet away from him.

"Well, lets see it then"

The young Samurai laughed,

"You'll move, we all know that shinobi have no honor to stand up in a straight fight"

Naruto shook his head,

"I will not move from this point. In fact, if you strike me, I will give you my katana"

He pulled the sword from the holster on his back and drove it into the ground at his feet. The young samurai grinned and picked up the boulder smiling,

"Have it your way shinobi"

The whole time Sakura and Sasuke were standing stoically at the side of the crowd. A random face leaned over towards them and said,

"Aren't you worried about your friend?"

They shook their head,

"It would take far more than a single rock to kill him. Besides I've never seen Naruto loose a bet, and I doubt that he intends to start now"

With a yell, the older boy let the rock fly through the air. It landed with a thud just past Naruto on the right side. Naruto calmly bent down and picked up a single round pebble off the ground. It was no larger than a glass marble. Holding lightly between a couple of fingers, he flicked it hard at the older boy and struck him straight between the eyes.

The older boy stumbled around, trying to regain his balance, before he finally fell down onto one knee. Naruto calmly walked over to the boy and offered him a hand up,

"You know" Naruto started, "My sensei used to say, that it isn't the size of your rock that matters, its how you use it"

The boy on the ground laughed and accepted Naruto's hand and pulled himself to his feet,

"I think you and I are going to get along just fine Shinobi, my names Hoshi, if you ever need anything feel free to ask"

Naruto nodded and began walking away. As he reached his teammates Sakura smacked him upside the head,

"You couldn't just let them be could you? You just had to mess with him"

Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly,

"Ah, come on Sakura-chan, he started it. Sasuke would've done the same thing wouldn't you of Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned and began walking towards the tent again,

"No comment"

Sakura began walking away too, leaving Naruto standing there grumbling.

"Stupid teammates…"

--

The next morning, Naruto and Sasuke were standing in the training fields watching the more senior Samurai begin going through complex katas with their swords. Sasuke tried to remember a kata that he had seen in one of his clan's scrolls, but was failing miserably. Naruto seemed content to just practice random swipes and jabs against an invisible opponent.

Finally after a little while, two of the most senior Samurai walked over to them. They appeared to be in their late forties or early fifties. The one on the left beckoned for Naruto to follow him.

Once they were about a hundred yards away from Sasuke and the other samurai he began speaking.

"I do not know your name young one, nor do I care to learn it. I shall call you shinobi and you shall merely call me Sensei. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded his head,

"Good, now Hosokawa-sama has informed me that you currently lack the ability to speak, which is good, because to samurai, when the master speaks, the pupil will listen. And make no mistake here shinobi, I am the master."

He drew his katana and assumed a readied stance across from Naruto.

"My master says that you have some skill with the blade, although you have never been formally trained. I find that the bet way to gauge my opponents is to spar with them. So draw your sword and prepare yourself"

Naruto drew his sword and sprinted forward. Jumping high into the air brought his sword down, meaning to cut the man in two. He was surprised to see that his sensei had already stepped to the side, and with one swift movement hit Naruto hard on the back with the backside of his blade.

Naruto rolled away before jumping to his feet,

"You are quick shinobi, I will give you that. But mere quickness is no substitute for a well trained samurai with years of experience"

The two clashed together several more times. Each time Naruto would be knocked away with a rough blow from the back of the older man's sword. Finally, in a fuming rage, he pushed chakra into his legs and moved blindly fast trying to cut the man in two from the side.

In one swift movement the samurai crushed his right hand with the back of his sword, effectively disarming him. Another blow followed up on his collarbone, knocking him to his knees. The samurai rested the tip of his sword at Naruto's neck.

"You show promise young shinobi, but you are young and brash."

He removed the sword from his neck and tapped the top of his head,

"First you will learn to fight with this"

Then he handed Naruto back his sword.

"Then I will teach you to fight with this"

Looking over, Naruto could see that Sasuke was being similarly knocked around by his sensei.

"You will have time to worry about your friends later. Come now, you will start to learn the ancient and sacred art of the sword."

Naruto stood up gingerly using his sword as a slight crutch. The older man nodded,

"Good, you show determination. That is key to any warrior. Now, do as I do"

The man began fluidly going through a kata while Naruto painfully tried to mimic him.

The samurai smiled,

'Hosokawa was right. He will make an excellent student'

--

Sakura walked into the large white tent with a red tent cross on the top. All around her she could see samurai between the ages of about twelve and into their fifties all lying around on canvas cots.

Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she could see a man in a white doctor's jacket looking down at her,

"You must be the kunoichi that Hosokawa said was coming to help us"

Sakura nodded her head,

"He also said that you were unable to hear anything. Is that true?"

Sakura, responded,

"Yes, although I have trained myself to read lips"

The man nodded,

"Good, you'll be working with me for the next couple of months. Do you have any experience with being a medic?"

Sakura nodded her head,

"I know the basic medical ninjutsu"

The older doctor shook his head,

"Ninjutsu is useless on those who have not developed their chakra pathways. You could pump all the healing chakra in the world into a normal civilian or samurai and their bodies would have no idea what to do with it. No here you will learn true first aid, box them up and get them to the hospital"

Sakura grimaced the way he said 'box them up' but chose to keep her mouth shut.

"Now them, come here to get your gear"

With that he led her down one of the aisles trying to explain to her the concept of doing stitches to hold a wound shut as he went.

--

Naruto's arms were beginning to scream in complaint as he and Sasuke were run through various katas over and over. Any mistake was marked when their sensei would whack the offending appendage with a wooden sword. Needless to say, Sasuke and Naruto's arms, legs, and backs were covered in dark bruises.

"Again!" shouted Sasuke's sensei. Apparently their kata was still not up to the samurai par. After going through the agonizing movements once more their sensei's finally informed them that they were now ready to join the rest of the younger samurai in their daily training.

Sakura was also being put through her paces. The samurai were often getting cut or injured in training, and since they were unable to be healed by healing ninjutsu like her teammates, the doctors had to patch them up the best that they could and rely on nature to take its course.

It was rough training for all of them, but the training was beginning to pay off. Both Naruto and Sasuke were able to hold their own against most of the samurai who were a decade older than them. Sasuke seemed to have a little more natural skill than his blonde haired teammate, but what Naruto lacked in natural talent, he more than made up for it in pure determination. He never seemed to have a limit to his energy and he was a glutton for punishment.

By the end of the second month, all three of them had taken their particular skills to a whole new level. Naruto had finally begun learning true katas for his longer nodachi while Sasuke was being trained to use a wakizashi that was about the same size as his ninjato.

At the end of the second month, Naruto and Sasuke were sparring with two other of the older Samurai. They had become adept in using the samurai standard katas, but their shinobi training still shined through when they tended to incorporate various acrobatic movements into their attacks. It wasn't uncommon to see them jump over opponents or bend at incredible angles to avoid the swords of the more experience samurai.

Over the hill they could see Sakura running towards them,

"Hosokawa-sama has requested our presence at his tent," she panted out when she reached the other two shinobi. Naruto and Sasuke sheathed their swords and bowed to their opponents before turning around and running over the hill with Sakura in tow.

As they approached the large red tent in the middle of the compound they slowed down and composed themselves. The had learned over the past two months that were Hosokawa demanded the same respect that they would show to their own Hokage.

Bowing to the guards outside the tent, the tent flaps were quickly opened and they were led inside. Inside they were surprised to see all three of their sensei's and Saru-sensei.

All three of them bowed low,

"Hosokawa-sama, senseis"

All four of them bowed slightly in acknowledgement. Hosokawa stood up,

"I have never seen three young shinobi so dedicated to their arts as the three of you. I have no doubt that if you continue down this path, you will indeed become some of the most fearsome opponents that our enemies have ever faced."

He waved over one of his assistants who came over carrying a black ebony box.

"The samurai have something that we call our bushido, our way of the warrior. It teaches us that we must practice frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto our deaths. You shinobi have no such codes, however your sensei once gave a nindo, a ninja way to you ANBU. Your nindo is Damned by the flesh Saved by the blood."

The Sandaime stood up and looked at the team.

"After I spent many months working with the samurai during my own youth, Hosokawa's grandfather helped me make that my personal nindo, and when I took over the ANBU as Hokage, I passed it onto them. As ANBU we have damned ourselves. We do what we must, by any means we must. However, our sins save thousands. We are damned by our flesh and saved by the blood. That is the nindo of the ANBU and that is the nindo that we all follow till our deaths."

Hosokawa took the black box from his assistant,

"Normally, when a samurai completes his training and joins our ranks, he is given a uniform and his swords. You however are not samurai, you are ninja and have no use for one of our uniforms and you already have a sword. So I have made you these"

He opened the box. It was lined in dark purple velvet and had three dark grey rings at the bottom.

"These rings are made out of the same steel that we make our samurai's swords. The inside of the ring has the nindo of the ANBU carved into it. The outside it is marked with the kanji from our bushido, Frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery and honor. It also contains the family crest of the Hosokawa clan. Should you ever need rest, find one of the many armies of the fire country and you will find sanctuary as far as we are able"

The three bowed deeply once again, Sasuke spoke for the group,

"Your gift is far greater than we could possibly ever deserve"

The general waived him off,

"Maybe you are right. But I believe in investing in the future, and you three are the future of this country. In the two short months that you have been here, my men have trained harder and achieved more than ever. Your mere presence has pushed others towards greatness."

The general began walking towards the doorway,

"Your students are yours again Sarutobi."

Sarutobi bowed slightly to the general before turning towards his team. They were now all wearing the steel rings given to them by the general.

"When we return to Konoha, the Hokage has set up a mock fight between the three of you and a team of chuunin. Think of this as the next exam in your training"

--

The Hokage was seated behind her large wooden desk looking over at the two chuunin seated in front of her.

"Izumo and Kotetsu, I have a favor to ask of you two"

Both chuunin bowed,

"What can we do to be of service Hokage-sama?" answered Kotetsu.

"I have a team of three ANBU trainees who are coming back from training abroad for a couple of months. I would like to ask the two of you to fight them in a no bars held match so that we can see just how far they have come."

Both chuunin looked a little surprised,

"Hokage-sama, we are honored that you think that we are on the level of ANBU, but we are most likely not the best chuunin for the job."

Tsunade waived her hand,

"Nonsense, you two are some of the finest chuunin in the village. Besides these are not your normal ANBU, they are in a new special program that we are trying. When they started the training just a few months ago they were still young genin."

Both chuunin seemed to brighten at the fact that they were not fighting the hardened killers that ANBU was notorious for. Seeing the change in their demeanor, Tsunade smiled and clapped her hands.

"Excellent, be at training grounds seven this afternoon at three. There will be several others in attendance to watch of course, but no more than a few jounin"

The two chuunin nodded their heads,

"Well feel free to take the rest of the afternoon to prepare whatever it is that you need to get. These ANBU may be young, but I can guarantee that you'll want to be at your best to take them on."

--

Several hours later, the three young masked ANBU stood in the clearing of training grounds seven staring at the two seasoned chuunin standing across from them. On the edge of the field stood several important clan heads, heirs, the Hokage, jounin including Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, and Yuuhi Kurenai. Needless to say Izumo and Kotetsu were a little intimidated just by the people that were present.

Looking across from them they glanced at the white masked ANBU trainees. All three were wearing the white masks, black cloaks of the ANBU. The also all seemed to be wearing some sort of identical rings on their right ring finger. If it weren't for the different swords strapped to their backs, it would be impossible to distinguish between the three of them. The tallest wore what appeared to be a standard issue ninjato from his back. The second tallest, who was only taller by a fraction of an inch, wore a much large katana. The last one didn't have a sword with her.

Izumo leaned over towards Kotetsu,

"Hokage-sama wasn't kidding when she said they were genin. Look at them, they can't be any older than eleven or twelve"

Kotetsu nodded,

"Yeah, but don't loose track of them, we are outnumbered here"

The Hokage strode out onto the open field,

"Ok, remember this is a mock battle between the two man chuunin team and the three young ANBU trainees. Anything goes, so feel free to use any jutsu at your disposal."

Seeing that both sides were ready, she raised her right hand and quickly dropped it to the ground,

"Hajime (begin)"

In a blink of an eye Izumo and Kotetsu were on the defense, blocking sword attacks from both of the younger boys. Izumo was barely able to keep up with the taller of the two, but the smaller ones attacks had so much power behind each swing that blocking them repeatedly was beginning to make his arms go numb.

Looking over he could see that Kotetsu was having a similar problem. Normally the pair fought well together because they would play to each other's strengths and pick apart their opponents. But it seemed that these young ANBU had foreseen this and broke them apart as quickly as possible.

Finally seeing an opening to get back to his teammate, Izumo jump and was about to strike the katana wielding ANBU when a series of ten senbon needles dug deep into his legs, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

Kotetsu turned when he heard his teammate yell, just to feel the tip of the shorter ones ninjato prick his neck.

"Yield," said the much smaller ninja.

Kotetsu raised an arm and gave up.

Tsunade walked out clapping,

"Very good all of you. ANBU return to your base, your sensei is waiting for you there"

The three ANBU bowed their heads and immediately disappeared into the trees. Tsunade turned back to the two chuunin who were standing there looking rather humiliated.

"Do not feel bad about your loss here today. Those three are going to be some of the most powerful ninja that have ever lived in Konoha. You were chosen to fight them not only for your ability to work together, but also because everyone listens to you. You have a new mission. Wherever you go in Konoha, I want you to spread the word that Konoha has a new ANBU, you can call them this"

She handed them a piece of paper and walked away. She had more work to do before the day was over.

--

The team was quickly thrown back into their intense training. Saru began teaching them how to work their new and old skills together to make them even more formidable.

Naruto began learning to use his prized ninjutsu while he was attacking. Sakura learned to cast multiple genjutsu while still attacking ranged and setting up traps. Sasuke learned to combine his brutal taijutsu with his kenjutsu. They worked hard and learned much,

But today their short six months of relative peace had come to an end. Today was the time for their last exam.

Seeing them finish the workout that Sarutobi had set them to, Tsunade leapt down from the balcony. Instantly all three of them were on high alert, watching her to see if she was just another challenge that their sensei had set them to.

"Come here" in the blink of an eye, the three were kneeling in front of her.

"When you first began working together, Saru told you that there were no secrets between teammates in the ANBU. Holding true to this tradition, I have something to tell you."

She paused to take a deep breath,

"Almost eleven years ago the kyuubi was rampaging through the surrounding countries. After a couple of weeks it set its eyes on Konoha. They Yondaime Hokage died, taking the kyuubi with him, at least that's what the academy told you."

She paused again,

"In reality, something made completely out of chakra could never be killed. So it was sealed, into an orphaned newborn baby. A baby named Uzumaki Naruto."

All three of them knelt there completely shocked. After several seconds, Naruto began shaking. Although he was unable to say anything, it was painfully obvious that he was crying behind his mask.

Suddenly Naruto felt someone pull him into a tight embrace, opening his eyes, he was surprised to see his pink haired teammate holding him in the tight embrace.

Suddenly someone patted him on his back; Sasuke was standing there, his hand resting on Naruto's shoulder.

"You are nothing more than its jailor, but you are more than that, first and foremost you are our teammate, and the closest thing I have to a family"

Naruto broke down crying at those words. Sasuke still rarely spoke, but it had never become clearer to them how close the three had become in the last several months.

"Kai" they heard from where the Hokage was standing.

All three of their masks suddenly crashed to the floor, shattering on impact.

"You are no longer trainees, therefore you will not wear the masks of one."

She pulled out a scroll and quickly unsealed three masks.

"From this day forward these are your new masks. They have been specially made for each of you."

Naruto looked down at the set of masks and almost laughed. On the masks was what appeared to be a cartoonist's impression of a monkey's face. One had the monkey's hands covering his eyes, another with the hands over the ears, and the last with the hands over the mouths.

"Sasuke, from henceforth you shall be known as Mizaru (The see no evil monkey). Sakura, from henceforth you shall be known as Kikazaru (The hear no evil monkey). Naruto from henceforth you shall be known as Iwazaru (The say no evil monkey)"

She handed each of them their respective masks.

"The same seals that were attached to your training masks also exist on these. The difference is that if you apply chakra into this mask the seal will release until you stop the flow.

Each one of them channeled chakra into the masks. The hands of the monkey's disappeared the faces became identical. The mouths were open in a feral grin with sharp teeth. The eyes were wide and stared at you like a hungry animal waiting to strike. All in all the masks became downright terrifying.

"From this point onwards, your team shall be known as Team San'en (The Three Wise Monkeys). Report to my office tomorrow morning for your first assignment. Pack for at least a month long trip"

The three freshly graduated ANBU all nodded and disappeared quickly. Leaving the Hokage and her predecessor alone in the large cavern.

"You did well for such a short time Sarutobi-sensei"

Sarutobi yawned and stretched as he replied,

"Those kids will change the world someday, you just watch"

--

Later that evening, the three newly graduated ANBU sat in their room's large onsen. Sakura, who was sipping at some fresh lemonade, asked,

"So what do we do now? We've been training for so many months, I'm not even sure what we're supposed to do now"

Naruto shrugged,

"I suppose we follow orders and see where the road leads us"

Sasuke nodded his head in approval,

"Before my Mother was killed, she told me

"I haven't a clue as to how my story will end. But that's all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, you don't conclude the road has vanished. And how else could we discover the stars?"

Naruto smiled,

"You know, imagine the looks on the other genins faces when they find out years from now that the three kick ass ANBU that they heard about as kids were really their friends"

Sasuke smiled and Sakura laughed a little,

"Ino will never let me live that one down"

--

Author's notes—

*So interesting thing about the name Saru. Its primary translation to English does mean monkey, which is obviously what I was aiming for. However a more archaic definition for the word is "A bathhouse prostitute"

Before anyone accuses me of making the team too powerful, look at it this way. Many ninja in the past like Kakashi and Itachi made jounin by the time they were in there early teens, and to do that they had to be good in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. This time they were only good at one.

Their names all are all attributed to the ability that Sarutobi locked away. Naruto is named Iwazaru, the monkey who speaks no evil. Sakura is Kikazaru, the monkey who hears no evil. Sasuke is Mizaru the monkey who sees no evil. They are collectively called Team San'en, which translates as the three wise monkeys.

Anyways tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2 Their New Senseis

Naruto took a deep breath,

It was cold,

Tsunade had sent the San'en to the far northern border of waterfall country. Even at a ninja's pace, the travel had taken over a week. A small iron mining community rested up here, nestled in the sleepy mountain ranges. The community had recently been ransacked by a series of hit and run attacks. Each time they hit one of the large wagon trains that were transporting the much-needed iron down towards Hi no Kuni.

It had become apparent that the bandits attacking must be missing nin, just because of the extreme skill they had show in taking out the hired guards and getting away with the stolen goods. Normally, a mission like this would be handled by a countries own ninja, but Taki's ninja were spread thin the way it was, and since all the iron from these mines was going to Konoha anyways, it fell to their team.

It was winter up here in the mountains. Soon the cold would begin reaching down along the coast and into the land of Waves.

Naruto was standing in the branches of a century old pine tree far about the mountain pass, surveying the land below. The night was silent as snow softly drifted down, covering the land in a light powdery covering.

He took a handful of the icy snow and lifted his mask up. Shoving the cold snow into his mouth, he grimaced,

'It may just be frozen water, but it still isn't as good as regular water' he thought

He heard a crunch of the soft snow somewhere down the path. Moving as little as possible he peered down the tight mountain pass. A wagon train was slowly beginning to make its way down the frozen trail.

The train was slowly making its way down the mountain pass. Looking over to the other side of the pass, just off to the side of the trail, he could just make out Sasuke standing absolutely still. Unless you knew where he was, you would pass him off for nothing more than a rock.

Sakura was located somewhere in the train itself, just in case something happened that Sasuke or Naruto were unable to get to.

Naruto sat, waiting for the train to get closer. Whoever was attacking these trains were good, but not flawless. They tended to attack at random intervals, but always within the same general area.

They had staked the mountainside out for nearly three days now. As a child he had always imagined the higher ranked missions to be all action. Explosions and jutsu flying everywhere.

Sadly, it seemed B-rank missions were not nearly as exciting as he had hoped for. So far, all of them consisted of sitting in one location, waiting for a perfect moment to strike at an opponent.

Not really all that exciting.

And once they were into a fight, it never lasted more than several minutes at most. Thinking back, he did remember Saru-sensei saying something about that,

"A true ninja's battle is decided within the opening moments of the fight. ANBU do not warm up in a fight. When we strike we hit hard and fast. A good ninja never cuts twice."

He had always assumed the man over exaggerated things a little much, but it seemed he was right in this stance.

Suddenly, movement coming from the other direction caught his eye. There were three figures rapidly closing in.

In one smooth motion Naruto drew his large nodachi and leapt from the trees, plummeting to the frozen earth far below. As he fell silently, he could see the lead ninja begin throwing a series of shuriken at the lead guard.

Not that they ever reached him of course. Even before they left his hands a still blinded Sasuke had drawn his ninjato and cleanly blocked every single one.

The three ninja stopped and assumed a fighting stance. The tall one in the front, who wore a nondescript white trench coat with a white bandana around his head stopped.

"Shit! ANBU" Spinning on his heel, trying to run away, he called out to his team "Scatter!"

Just in time to be stabbed through the chest with Naruto's nodachi.

The man struggled for a second. His head spun around wildly as he saw his man on the right get cut down by Sasuke's lightning fast ninjato. It looked as if his last teammate may be home free, but a series of senbon flew past his head and imbedded themselves into the base of the man's neck.

A minute ago, another flawless victory seemed imminent to the wayward Kumo-nin. However, thirty seconds after that the three ANBU showed up, and in another thirty seconds the team was eradicated.

Looking up, he felt Naruto slide the blade from his chest and shake the blood from it before sheathing it. Seeing his mask, he laughed,

"So it's true. Konoha's San'en" he coughed violently, blood and spittle spraying the snow.

"In Kumo they said you were a rumor Iwazaru. I guess that's what I get for not listening…"

With that he fell all the way to the ground, the thin blanket of snow quickly melted as the warm blood made contact.

Looking up, he shared a nod with his teammates. He bent down and removed the man's hitai-ate and placed it in the pouch on his belt.

He picked up the dead man's body and jumped back up the cliff side. ANBU policy stated that they burn the bodies, but they couldn't start a fire in the middle of the path without someone noticing, and using a jutsu in the snow entrenched mountains was just asking for an avalanche.

Several miles away, the team found a relatively flat spot out of the way. Channeling some chakra to his mask, Naruto removed the masks silencing seal and used a small but hot fire jutsu to burn the bodies to ashes. After a couple of minutes the flames died down and with a quick wind jutsu, he banished the ashes to the far corners of the earth.

No words were spoken between the team. There were none needed. They stood at the edge of a ridges precipice staring over the moonlight landscape. Then they were gone. To a passing eye they were nothing more than wraiths of the night. Never seen or heard, but they were there none-the-less.

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The travel out of the mountains was the longest part of the trek back. There is no easy way through mountains. You can go around them, like the civilians often do, but that adds unnecessary miles to the trip. The fast way is to just go over them, but the thinned oxygen and rough terrain are taxing.

Naruto jumped over one particularly high cliff and landed in a crouch. Looking around he surveyed the area.

Seconds later another soft landing indicated that Sasuke had caught up. Naruto looked over at his teammate.

"Iwazaru" Sasuke said, getting Naruto's attention, "We should make camp here for the night, Kikazaru is getting tired"

Nodding, Naruto began setting up the tent on the small cliff side ledge. Sakura was still somewhere up on the cliff's wall keeping watch over the surrounding area.

While Naruto was working on the sleeping arrangements, Sasuke began making their dinner. ANBU rarely had the luxury of a fire, but new advancements in chemistry allowed for hot meals.

The food came in two bags, one that the water was heated in. The other held the soup that they would be eating. Filling the first bag with a little water from his canteen, he dropped the white powdery tablets in. Immediately the water began to get hot. He dropped the smaller bag filled with the soup inside and set it on the ground while it cooked.

After staking down the small three-man tent, Naruto looked up at the small overhang above, he could make out Sakura flying through hand seals, no doubt placing various genjutsu around the campsite to reduce the chance that some wandering eye would see them. After several minutes and at least three genjutsu, Sakura gracefully leapt off the overhang, landing next to Naruto.

"Is the soup done yet?" she asked quietly

Sasuke, who was rummaging through his pack looking for some bowls, answered,

"It has a minute yet, but it will be done soon"

Sakura sighed, and in a rather ungraceful manner, plopped down on a hard rock to sit.

"We've been traveling through these damn rocks for near a week already. I say next time we request a mission in someplace tropical."

Naruto nodded his head. The constant cold was starting to get to him.

After a couple of minutes of just sitting around, the soup was finally hot. It was made of nothing except some dried vegetables, noodles, and some broth.

Naturally, Naruto thought it was amazing.

Once dinner was done, and they were ready to retire, Naruto activated his mask and muttered,

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" (Shadow Clone jutsu)

Five of the clones popped into existence and simultaneously leapt to different locations around the campsite to keep watch for the night.

Without a word the original ducked into the tent and lied down beside his teammates.

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Miles behind them, a group of Kumo hunter-nins stood at the site that they bodies had been burned.

"It seems that the rumors have some truth to them after all" Said the one who was apparently the leader of the group.

A younger sounding and obviously less experienced hunter looked at him,

"What rumors sir?"

The taller man looked away from the scorched earth, south towards Konoha.

"There have been rumors that Konoha has trained another one of their infamous free response teams."

The younger one made no sound, obviously confused. Third member of the team, a large man with two swords on his back answered for the captain.

"When Konoha senses a war coming, they increase their training programs dramatically and turn out some very powerful individuals, just like every other village tries to do. However, they also train one team, called a free response team."

The leader started talking,

"They couldn't have had any information about this mission besides those wagon trains being attacked. Normally a village would send couple of rookie chuunin to scout around and see who was attacking them, then report back if it was enemy ninja. Then the village would send out a jounin with some chuunin backup to remove them. This however"

He pointed to the ground where the scorched earth was,

"This was done by a single team"

The youngest one was still confused,

"How do you know it was one team?"

The older one sighed.

'_I hate replacements' _he thought idly to himself,

"Look, they wouldn't have had enough time to go back to Konoha and get a jounin team here before we tracked them down. That means that it must have been one team. On top of that, the Hokage would never needlessly send off a jounin, it's a waste of manpower. Which means this is probably the work of a free response team. A team that is trained to go into tough situations with little or no knowledge"

The youngest one nodded his head, finally starting to understand,

"So what do we do now?"

Their captain shrugged,

"Not much to do, they have almost a week's lead on us. Even if we did catch them, we have no idea what skill level they are. Except that they managed to kill the three chuunin without any collateral damage"

He turned around towards the north and began walking,

"So we return to Kumo and tell the Kage"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsunade was sitting in her office, reading over the various mission reports that had been brought in throughout the day. Most of them were of little importance and were divvied up between the various office workers to be filed.

She was currently reading through the report that Team San'en had turned in. They had arrived sometime the night before and placed the mission report directly into her inbox.

'_Stupid brats' _she thought

While turning in the mission report was important, they had done it after hours, which meant they had to of snuck by at least four chuunin and a jounin to do it.

She had given them the day off to get some much needed rest before taking off into missions and training again.

She put the small scroll down into a file, just as someone knocked at the door.

Without waiting for a response the door swung open.

Without looking up she greeted the man at the door,

"I know that this used to be your office and all Sarutobi-sensei, but you could at least wait for me to call you in."

Sarutobi waved her off,

"You never used to wait for me. I'm just returning the favor"

He sat down in one of the nicely padded chairs across from Tsunade,

"Now then, about my team"

Tsunade looked up for the next mission report that she had started to skim,

"What about them?"

Sarutobi sighed,

"They need to begin the next portion of their training soon, preferably after the chuunin exams that are in a couple of months. They are good as is, but if they are going to be a real terror during a war, they will need allies in the summoning realm"

Tsunade nodded her head,

"Makes sense I suppose. Why do you want to have them wait till after the exam though?"

Sarutobi chuckled,

"Well I suppose we could start before, but we need to get that roaming lecher of a teammate back to give us a hand first."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow,

"Why does Jiraiya need to be here? He's doing more good out there than he would if he was just sitting around the village peeping on women"

Sarutobi reaching into his pocket and withdrew his pipe and a small tin of tobacco. Taking a pinch of the flavored tobacco, he rolled it between his fingers before beginning to pack the pipe.

"It seemed only fitting that Naruto learned from him, given his heritage"

Tsunade's eyebrow rose,

"I assume then that you will want me to take over the girls training?"

Sarutobi nodded his head,

"That was the plan."

Tsunade shook her head,

"It sounds like you're trying to recreate the Sannin old man. Their team names may be similar, but they are not us."

Sarutobi, while lighting his pipe, shook his head. Taking a deep draught of the nicotine filled smoke he started talking again.

"Well obviously not. Orochimaru took his families' snake scroll with him when he fled the village. No, I have a special plan for Sasuke."

Tsunade, looking back up from her paperwork,

"And what plan would that be?"

Sarutobi chuckled,

"A few years ago I received a very special gift from an old enemy turned friend. But that is story for a later date."

Seeing that he wasn't going to tell her what he had up his sleeve she relented,

"Well regardless, if all you were planning on waiting for was Jiraiya, your wait is over. It seems that Orochimaru has something planned for the chuunin exams, so he came back ahead of schedule."

Sarutobi nodded,

"Good then we will start immediately tomorrow morning. Tell him to meet me at the cabin atop the Hokage's mountain. I'll send Sakura to meet with you down here."

Tsunade stared at the man,

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

Sarutobi laughed and began walking out of the room,

"I'm your sensei too remember?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was walking around the town, forgoing his ANBU outfit for once. Per standards, they had the day following the return from a mission off to recuperate.

Sasuke had chosen to practice his kenjutsu with some other ANBU named Neko. Sakura went to visit her grandmother.

Naruto sighed and adjusted the sword that was still strapped to his back. He was slowly making his way over to the public onsen. He was just walking over a small bridge into the large gardens that were the center of the large onsen, when he heard someone giggling behind some bushes.

Jumping over the railing of the bridge, he landed on top of the hot stream and walked downstream a little to get a better look at who ever was hiding back there.

A man, wearing some sort of green pants and a red vest with a large scroll hanging across his back, was peering through a small gap in the fence. Naruto glowered, it was a pervert. In his mind, a pervert that peeped on women should be just as illegal as someone who stalked them.

Moving silently, he walked up behind the man, slowly drawing his large sword. When he was just about to give the pervert a whack over the head with the flat of his blade he heard,

"Don't even think about it brat, I'm working here"

Naruto froze in mid swing as the man had turned to face him.

"Working? You're not working! You're just a pervert!" Naruto exclaimed loudly.

The man sneered at Naruto and jumped to his feet,

"I'm not a pervert!" He denied vehemently, and then he broke into a huge grin,

"I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" The man's smiled faded after a second,

"Now, get out of here, I have work to do"

With that he gave Naruto a small shove that sent him flying back into the stream that he had walked down on. Then he sat back down and began giggling and writing in his small notebook.

Naruto landed in a pile inside the hot stream. After untangling himself from some seaweed, Naruto clambered back up to the top of the stream,

Seeing the man still sitting there, scribbling furiously away inside of his notebook, Naruto's face turned red,

Bringing his sword around in front quickly, he channeled a little chakra and yelled,

"Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu"

The man spun back around and batted the attack away as if it were just an annoying fly.

"Last warning kid, go away"

The older man seemed to be in no mood for fighting with some snot nose brat. Naruto shook his head,

"I don't need to I've already solved the problem"

With a half ram seal, Naruto shunshined away from the area, not stopping until he was just outside of the men's baths. Taking a deep breath, he waited for a second. Then he heard it.

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Jiraiya was sitting still facing where Naruto had been standing just moments before.

'What did he mean by he already solved the problem?'

Turning back around to continue his research, Jiraiya put his face back up against the wooden enclosure. As his face made contact, he felt the whole fence start to shift. Looking over, he saw the ropes that anchored the fence, lying limp on the ground.

They had been cut by Naruto's deflected attack.

With a crash the whole fence hit the ground, and every woman in the onsen turned to see what cause the commotion.

Feeling every woman's eyes glaring into him, Jiraiya grinned,

"Umm… Hello?"

"PERVERT!!!"

Jiraiya frowned,

'This, is going to hurt'

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Naruto was sitting calmly in the hot waters of the onsen. With a groan he slowly slid down till his eyes were just above the water.

"Oi! Gaki"

Naruto stuck his head back out of the water and looked around. In front of him was a battered and bruised Jiraiya.

"You owe me a new notebook!" The old man was surprisingly angry.

"I owe you nothing," Naruto stood up, his bath had been ruined.

"Don't you know who I am?" Naruto turned back around, just in time to see the man start doing some ridiculous dance on top of a rock.

Naruto threw a rock at him.

"Of course I know who you are. You're the Gama-sennin, Jiraiya"

Jiraiya's face fell,

"Well if you knew who I am. Why on earth would you attack me and ruin my research?"

Naruto shrugged,

"I don't like perverts"

Jiraiya grumbled, he was about to teach the kid a lesson, but he saw a messenger hawk circling above. Jiraiya looked over at the kid, surprised to see him staring at the hawk too

"What are you looking at gaki? You know they never call genin by messenger hawk."

Naruto frowned,

"Say whatever you want Ero-sennin, but I've got to get going"

Naruto turned around and began walking back towards the changing rooms,

"Hey!" Jiraiya called out after him, seeing that Naruto was completely ignoring him he started to chuckle.

"Oh boy, I think I'm going to like this kid…"

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Sakura was sitting at the kitchen table with her grandmother, idly chatting about nothing at all.

"So do you like your team?" Her grandmother asked

"Baa-san" Sakura chided, "You know I can't tell you about them."

The elderly woman waived her off,

"Nonsense, you just can't tell me specifics, but codenames and what they're like isn't classified"

Sakura smiled. As usual her grandmother had found a way around the rules again.

"Well let's see, one is named Mizaru. He's fun to hang out with, but he can sometimes be a little bit of a sociopath."

The old lady sighed,

"Unfortunately that isn't all that uncommon in the shinobi ranks. Eventually you begin to see so much bloodshed, that you decide it's better to just not feel anything."

Sakura's eyes widened,

"That's horrible!"

Her grandmother nodded,

"A change in personality for ninja isn't uncommon at all."

Sakura stared at her grandmother,

"You know Baa-san, I always just assumed you were a ninja years ago, but you never talk about it and you never talk about your old friends"

The grandmother sighed,

"Many years ago, not long after the first Shinobi war, I was recruited into ANBU. It was just after me and all my friends had started making chuunin rank. I was one of the few genjutsu users in the village at that time."

She stared solemnly out of the window,

"ANBU was different then. On and off the fields, we were targeted by our enemies, so we told no one who we were. We had no one to talk to, because even our own teammates didn't know our identities, and you sure as hell didn't talk about ANBU missions outside of ANBU"

The old woman had a tear run down her face,

"By the time I left ANBU, the second war was just finishing, thanks to the Sannin. So I hung up my mask"

She sighed deeply, as if trying to ward away unwanted memories,

"My first sensei, tried to warn me off from joining the ANBU. He told me, _"You wear the mask for so long. You eventually forget who you are beneath it." _I didn't believe him of course. I was young and adventurous. The problem is that he was right. When I got out, I didn't know how to act anymore. After several months I realized that I had lost any of my friends that were still alive and I decided it was time to be done with it all. So I boxed up all my gear and started as a receptionist at the tower.

She smiled fondly,

"I met your grandfather there"

Sakura smiled sadly at her grandmother. Her grandfather had passed away almost twenty years ago now, but her grandmother was still very much in love with him. It was sweet, but sad.

Sakura heard a light pecking sound at the window. A dark brown hawk was sitting on the windowsill pecking at the glass. It had a small metal band with the kanji for "Hokage" carved into it.

"A direct calling from the Hokage?"

Her grandmother seemed rather surprised. Sakura sighed,

"I'm sorry Baa-san, but I have to go"

Her grandmother stood up slowly and walked over to give her a hug,

"Just don't forget, no matter where you go or who you become, you are always my granddaughter, and I love you"

Sakura let a small tear run down her eye,

"I know Baa-san, I know"

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"Good you're all here" stated Tsunade as Naruto finally made his way into her office. Both Sasuke and Sakura were already seated in front of her desk waiting.

"Sorry, I got kind of hung up by a pervert." Naruto informed them.

Seeing the questioning look and slightly horrified look on his teammates' faces, he smacked his forehead.

"I probably could have worded that better…" He mumbled to himself as he took a seat on a chair in front of the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade shook her head,

"Well, anyways I called you here to inform you that as of today, you are each being assigned a personal sensei who will train you for the next couple of months. They should be arriving here shortly"

Immediately after she finished talked the door to her office burst open,

"YOSH! Hokage-sama where is the youthful young man that you have asked me to lead into the bright springtime of his life"

The man was wearing an absurd skin-tight green outfit with orange leg warmers and a jounin vest. He had his hitai-ite tied around his waist like some sort of belt.

"Good, I'm glad you were able to make it on such short notice Gai" Said Tsunade as she smirked.

The three team members all stared at the man rather slack jawed,

"SO! Which one of these youthful companions is going to learn taijutsu from Konoha's green beast?" Yelled Gai, with what was a completely unnecessary amount of enthusiasm.

"Ah hell…" muttered Sasuke

In the blink of an eye the green man held Sasuke in a bone breaking bear hug,

"YOSH! Sasuke-kun together we will work towards the springtime of youth that is taijutsu!"

Sasuke just stared blandly at the man, before turning to address everyone that was present.

"Before I leave, I just want you to know that I hate you all" he turned and glared pointedly at Sarutobi, "But I always hated you the most, more than anyone else, it was always you."

"What an unyouthful thing to say to one's Sensei." Gai seemed momentarily disappointed before he quickly recovered,

"YOSH! We will do a hundred laps around Konoha for being disrespectful" He grabbed Sasuke's arm and started dragging him out of the room,

"And if we cannot do that, we will do five thousand pushups, and if we cannot do that we will…"

His voice finally started to fade as he got further down the hallway. Sakura, the first to get over the shock asked the question that was wearing heavily on both her and Naruto's mind.

"Who the hell was that?" she asked quizzically.

Tsunade and Sarutobi laughed,

"That, believe it or not, is one of the most accomplished taijutsu users in the world. Despite being rather odd, he is one of the most powerful jounin in the village"

Naruto sighed,

"So you're breaking up the team?"

Sarutobi smiled, happy that the team had become so attached to one another in such a short time.

"It's only for a couple of months while you learn from a new sensei"

"So who is going to train me?" asked Naruto

"That would be me you damn gaki"

Naruto spun around and pointed a finger at the man standing behind him,

"Ero-sennin? You're kidding me, this pervert is my sensei. Not even a half hour ago I caught…" Naruto was silenced as Jiraiya clamped a hand down around his mouth,

"Well look at the time Tsunade-hime, guess I better be on my way and start training the brat"

He took off in a shunshin before Naruto had time to react.

Sakura was left sitting in the office with only herself and the Hokage,

"So who will be teaching me?" She asked,

Surprisingly, Tsunade stood up,

"I will"

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"You need to lighten up Gaki" Said Jiraiya who had an irate Naruto slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

He dropped Naruto onto the ground.

"What on earth could a hopeless, perverted, washed up ninja possibly have to teach me that Saru-sensei hasn't already?"

Obviously, Naruto was none too pleased about the teaching arrangements. Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head,

"Ok, I admit that I am a pervert, but I am also considered to be the strongest of the Sannin. Plus I was the one who trained the Yondaime"

Naruto's ears perked up,

"You trained the Yondaime?"

Jiraiya stuck his chest out, obviously proud of himself,

"Damn right I did. The best student I ever had. And I'm going to start training you the same way I did with him"

Naruto, getting excited now,

"And how did you do that?"

Jiraiya's smile grew to epic proportions,

"I made him act like an idiot"

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Sasuke was sitting next to a small campfire out in the middle of only God knows where with his new sensei. He was so tired he could hardly sit up as Gai began making dinner.

"Why do you push yourself so far Sasuke?"

Sasuke was surprised, this was the first time he had seen Gai actually just talk, not yelling like an idiot.

"I'm not sure that I understand what you mean?" Sasuke answered,

Gai set down the pot that he was making dinner in and let it just simmer near the fire.

"There are a lot of reasons to fight in this world, not all of them are right"

Sasuke sighed, he may not be the cold fish that he had been just over half a year ago, but he didn't like opening up to random strangers.

Gai shook his head and started talking,

"My father used to tell my brother and I: _**'Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.'**_ *For years we trained by that motto so that we would be able to stand up to his ideal. Then the war came, I joined ANBU along with my rival Hatake Kakashi."

He sighed deeply,

"About a month into it, I was on what was supposed to be a routine border patrol when everything went wrong. My brother's team had been ambushed not far from where I was located. I got there as quick as I could, but he was already dead. I went ballistic, and opened seven of the celestial gates. My chakra was so thick that it looked green to everyone around me. I slaughtered almost forty Iwa-nin that day before I collapsed from exhaustion, earning me the name, Konoha's Green Beast."

Sasuke stared at the fire. Granted he had only known the man for less than one day, but the idea of such a cheerful person killing that many shinobi was mind boggling. Before he even realized it he was talking,

"If you had asked me the same question a year ago, I would have told you that I live to avenge my clan and kill my brother"

There was a pause,

"So what do you believe in now Sasuke?"

Sasuke fell onto his back and stared at the stars that were beginning to emerge.

"I'm not sure anymore. I still hate him, but something has changed…"

Gai nodded his head,

"Tomorrow, we will begin your training. I have a technique that I will teach to you, but in return when you decide what it is that you fight for, I want you to tell me."

Sasuke nodded his head as he accepted the bowl of beef stew that Gai finished cooking,

"Of course Sensei"

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"Act like an idiot?"

Naruto was beyond confused. This man, who was supposedly one of the greatest ninja that had ever been produced in Konoha, was not only a complete and utter pervert, but also just told him to be an idiot.

Jiraiya nodded his head,

"Well not necessarily an idiot, but you need to understand this before we go any further"

Jiraiya motioned for Naruto to come and sit next to him. There was another team of genin on the other side of the field being trained being trained by some unknown jounin. They sat in silence for a second before Jiraiya started talking again.

"This is possibly the most important piece of information that I will ever give you, so make sure that you remember this"

Naruto, still a little confused just agreed.

"The biggest part to being a ninja is deception. You only let your enemies see what you want them to see. Right now, unless you have that ANBU mask on, you wear your heart on your sleeve, and that will eventually get you and your team into trouble. So you do what all ninja eventually do, you create an incorporeal mask to hide behind. You become a pervert, a hopeless gambler, or an idiot. That or you lock up your emotions completely and try to ignore them."

Naruto looked confused,

"Wouldn't it be better to just forget emotions?"

Jiraiya shook his head,

"Many would agree with you, but I know of only a few shinobi who tried to do that. Uchiha Itachi did that and he killed his entire clan. Orochimaru tried to, and he ended up doing inhumane experiments on his comrades."

Naruto starting to understand commented,

"Humans can't hide their emotions forever, so it's better to mask them than to truly get rid of them is what you're saying?"

Jiraiya broke into a smile,

"Now you're getting it gaki. When we're done training here, you'll be a full blown idiot, and more powerful than ever"

Naruto shook his head vehemently,

"I'll hide behind a mask, but not as an idiot, I was one of those for too many years the way it was."

Jiraiya looked confused. He had read the kids file and he knew that if it hadn't been for his outstanding ninjutsu scores he may not have even passed the academy, so he had figured the idiot persona would be perfect.

"So what are you going to do then?"

Naruto turned his head at a goofy angle and adopted an irritated look on his face,

"Just get on with the training already Ero-sennin"

Jiraiya grinned,

"Come on Gaki, if you're going to be a smartass you at least gotta look like one"

--------------------------------------

Several hours later Naruto was standing back in the field with Jiraiya,

"There, now you're ready"

Naruto looked at his outfit, he admitted, he did like it a lot more than the standard issue ANBU uniform.

It was he had a black and dark orange jacket on. The shoulders were a heavy matte black material which ran across the back and down the sides. The rest of the jacket was a dark burnt orange color with a few various pockets on it. The pants were similar, dark orange with the black running down the sides. It had a black chain that hung loosely on the right side. His hair hung loosely over his hitai-ite and framed his face. Sticking out of his mouth was a black ebony pipe. The only thing that remained from his old uniform was his weapons pouch on the back of his belt and his nodachi slung across his back.

"Ok, so I get the clothes, but explain to me why I have the pipe again?"

Jiraiya laughed,

"Trust me, it works with the outfit, plus it will help you to get along with Gamabunta. Besides with the Kyuubi inside of you, you could smoke constantly for a hundred years and you'd have nothing to show from it."

Naruto looked at the pipe, still not completely sure about it. Jiraiya swiped the pipe out of his hands and began packing it and one of his own. Taking a match he lit the lightly flavored tobacco and handed the pipe back to Naruto.

"Here, just try the damn thing"

Naruto took a small puff off the pipe, not truly inhaling it.

"It's not bad I suppose"

Jiraiya grinned a little,

"Look kid, in this world you'll find that you only have three things to dull the pain, nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. And you can't have alcohol on missions, so that kind of limits your choices"

Naruto tapped out the pipe and let it hang empty from his mouth,

"So when do we start the real training"

Jiraiya, instantly readopting the mask that he had dropped when he started talking to Naruto earlier in the day replied,

"Tomorrow, tonight we go peeping!" He let a huge perverted smirk appear on his face.

Naruto instantly understood someone was watching who wasn't supposed to be there.

"Tch… Your and idiot…" Naruto seamlessly let his newly adopted mask of an apathetic smart ass slip into place as well, hoping that it would pass the test.

Jiraiya apparently ignored Naruto's comment as he kept on rambling as they began walking towards the town,

"She was so beautiful, satin skin, smooth black hair, Ooh, but I still smell her"

Jiraiya inhaled deeply through his nose,

"Women! What can you say? Who made 'em? God must have been a freakin genius. The hair... They say the hair is everything, you know. Have you ever buried your nose in a mountain of curls... just wanted to go to sleep forever? Or lips... and when they touched, yours were like... that first swallow of wine... after you just crossed the desert. Tits. Hoo-ah! Big ones, little ones, nipples staring right out at ya, like secret searchlights. Mmm. Legs. I don't care if they're perfect columns... or secondhand Steinways. What's between 'em... passport to heaven."

Jiraiya glanced sideways at this younger companion, seeing his walking with his hand in his pockets and pipe smoking slightly as it hung from the corner of his mouth.

Jiraiya playfully smacked him upside the head,

"Hey! Are you listenin' to me, son? I'm givin' ya pearls here."

Naruto grumbled as they continued on their way down the trail. After a couple hundred yards, they sensed their unknown spy take off back to wherever he had come from.

Jiraiya shared a smirk with his new student,

"Welcome to the masquerade gaki, tomorrow we'll start our actual training."

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While Naruto and Jiraiya were working on Naruto's new persona, Sakura and Tsunade were having a similar discussion,

"Tsunade-sama, not that I doubt what you're telling me and everything, but why do I have to dress like this again?"

Sakura was beyond embarrassed. At first she had been thrilled that the Hokage offered to buy her a new outfit. But this was just too much, the entire 'outfit' consisted of black zip up tank top and a pair of red shorts that seemed to be about two sizes too small.

"Look Sakura, you're a beautiful young kunoichi and that is a huge advantage in a fight. It's distracting to almost all men and some women"

Sakura shook her head,

"So you mean perverts like Jiraiya"

Tsunade looked nonplussed,

"You'd be surprised how much of that perversion is just a mask that he uses, just like I used to be a drunken gambler."

Tsunade saw her disciple's confusion,

"Look kid, the worlds tough and if you're going to survive, you need to be smarter and tougher than your opponents. Learn to look underneath the underneath. Jiraiya is no more of a pervert than any man, but he plays it off. By being a pervert he is ignored in almost every village as long as he goes to the red light districts. Very few people know this, but there are about twenty prostitutes in every major city across the map that work for Jiraiya and no one suspects him going to the brothels because he's a 'pervert'. Just like I used to let my girls almost hang out of my clothes and gamble and drink because no one ever suspected that I was just getting information. I have more money than I can ever manage to lose, and my title as 'The legendary Sucker' makes most places turn a blind eye to the fact that I'm also a Sannin just so they can get some of the money"

Sakura stared at her new sensei,

"So what you're saying is that I have to dress like this so I can get information easier?"

Tsunade nodded,

"A lot of genjutsu mistresses use their looks to their advantage, if the enemy is staring at your chest or legs they never notice the genjutsu being cast"

Sakura looked back down at her appearance. She nervously twisted the ring that Hosokawa had given her on her finger.

"I suppose. I'll do whatever I have to."

Tsunade smiled,

"Good to know, because these upcoming months are going to be hell for you. I'm not that good at genjutsu, so I will only be training you in basic taijutsu and some medic-nin skills. My older apprentice Shizune, however is an accomplished genjutsu mistress and she will be the one to complete your training in that field"

Seeing that Sakura understood, Tsunade unsealed a huge quantity of what looked like baseballs.

"Good, then let's get training then shall we? Lesson one, dodging. We aren't made of muscle like our male teammates, so we can't afford to be hit as often. Especially as a medic and genjutsu user."

Tsunade threw the ball at Sakura's chest, which Sakura barely dodged, only to be hit in the ankle by a different ball.

"You're going to have to be a lot faster than that Sakura"

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"Gaki get over here!" Jiraiya yelled out to Naruto, who was meditating beneath a water fall many miles outside of Konoha. Jiraiya had brought him back into the mountains. There was a small cabin there that he claimed he had used when he needed to get away from the village and all the prying eyes. It was nothing special. It only had one bedroom and a small living area/kitchen. But it was protected by a strong seal based genjutsu to keep unwanted visitors out. Apparently, besides Naruto and Jiraiya, only Tsunade, Sarutobi, and someone named Kakashi were able to get into the area.

Naruto walked over towards his sensei. They had established a rule during their training, there were no masks. As soon as they were done for the day though, the masks went back on. Jiraiya went back to being a philandering lascivious man, and Naruto to an apathetic wise guy.

"We're running short on time here, and unless we start being a little drastic, you may not be ready for the chuunin exams."

Naruto raised an eyebrow,

"Why what's happening at the chuunin exams?"

"There is a possibility of attack, but more than likely Tsunade will choose that moment to showcase the three of you. And while as a team you can take on a jounin, individually you're not ready for that much attention."

Naruto stood in front of his sensei,

"Ok, so what do I need to do then?"

Jiraiya smirked,

"I'm glad you asked"

He bit his thumb and flew through a few quick hand seals,

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!' (Summoning Technique)

There was a large puff of smoke. As the smoke dissipated, Naruto found himself facing a toad that was twice the size of a grown man. Jiraiya nodded at the toad and took a large scroll from the toad's mouth before it returned from whence it came.

"This is the summoning contract for the toads Naruto. I would like you to sign it."

Naruto stared at the scroll in awe. To have a summoning contract was a great honor, one usually reserved for heirs to great and ancient clans. To have one freely given was almost unheard of. In the not so far past, entire wars had been waged for these coveted scrolls.

"If you sign this Naruto, you are officially the apprentice of the Gama-sennin. You will have duties and responsibilities to attend to. Do not sign this unless you are fully prepared for everything that it entails."

Naruto was still shocked.

"What all does it entail?"

Jiraiya, still holding the large scroll began to explain,

"As a sennin, you are at the direct call of the Hokage. You answer only to him and to yourself"

Naruto looked down at the scroll,

"Are Sasuke and Sakura going to receive summons too?"

Jiraiya set the scroll down on the earth in front of him,

"I believe they will, I also believe that after the chuunin exams, you will be sent out into the world, much like the Sannin were when we were your age. Which is why, I want to make sure that you are prepared."

Naruto looked up at the man,

"Prepared for what? A war with Sound?"

Jiraiya nodded his head,

"That among other things"

Naruto, looking back down at the scroll,

"I would like to sign the scroll Sensei"

Jiraiya nodded his head and unrolled the scroll, there were only a few other signatures on the scroll, including the Yondaime's and Jiraiya's. Jiraiya showed Naruto the proper way to sign it, and then the hand seals that were necessary. Once Naruto had the seals down, he brought Naruto to a large cliff that overlooked the surrounding area.

"Before you try the summoning, I want to share one more thing with you"

He motioned for Naruto sit down on a log and sat down beside him,

""The moon peers down on a diseased world... There is no cure for the disease; an entire race walks mindlessly into destruction. Only a man of colossal power would be able to prevent the inevitable. But he can never do it alone Naruto, every story must eventually come to an ending, but it is solely up to you to decide what that ending will be. All that I know is that when I meet my maker, I plan to do so with my head held high, knowing that I did everything that I could to be a good man."

Naruto stared at Jiraiya for a minute before Jiraiya stood back up,

"Forgive an older man's ramblings. Let's try out that summoning shall we?"

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"Sasuke, come over here!"

Sasuke disappeared in a blur of black and appeared next to his interim sensei.

"You're a strong and youthful Sasuke-kun, but before I can teach you the final pieces of what I have to offer, we have to finish refining your basics"

Sasuke looked almost astonished,

"Basics! I've done nothing but practice the basics since I was a child. I'm one of the strongest taijutsu and kenjutsu users in the village now."

Gai's face became serious,

"The stronger swordsman does not necessarily win. It is speed! Speed of hand, speed of mind. Those will win the battle"

Sasuke looked skeptical, so Gai took the opportunity to push the message home.

"Fine then, we will set your sword and sharingan against my Goken (iron fist) and see which is better"

Sasuke was astonished,

"How do you know that I have even activated my sharingan?"

Gai laughed,

"I am no fool Uchiha Sasuke. Sarutobi would not seal your eyes behind that mask unless your sharingan was active"

Sasuke brought his hand up to his face and slowly removed the mask. Unlike Naruto or Sakura, he rarely took his mask off when he was technically off duty. The constant darkness gave him a constant reminder that he was not yet strong enough. The skin below the mask was pale. The hair that had fallen below it was matted to his forehead, but his eyes. His eyes were bright red with three spinning tomoe in each one.

"Fully developed, and at such a young age, you truly are a prodigy. I am amazed that you keep them covered so often"

Sasuke shook his head, and denied the statement vehemently,

"No, these eyes are the Uchiha's greatest strength and our greatest weakness. With them my brother killed the entire clan, and because of the clan's focus on the eyes, they were all too weak to stop him."

Gai nodded his head,

"A wise choice then, but they are a trump card, and I want you to be fully prepared"

Gai slowly bent down and pulled back his leg warmers, revealing a set of training weights. He carefully unclasped each set and placed them on the ground. He then took off his jounin flak vest revealing even more weights. He took those off and set them down next to the ones already on the ground.

Sasuke slowly drew the ninjato from his back and assumed his ready stance.

Gai took out a single blank scroll and held it out in front of him.

"I'll throw this scroll into the air, when it touches the ground, we will begin"

With that, Gai tossed the scroll high into the air. After several tense moments, it began its descent back to the earth. Seeing that it was past its apex, Sasuke stared hard at his opponent. His eye's taking in every detail about his stance. Where his weaknesses were, where it was best to strike, and where he was likely to strike. As the scroll came to the ground, he gripped his sword tightly, a small bead of sweat dripping down his face.

And then the scroll touched the ground,

'_He's gone!' _Was the only intelligent thought to go through Sasuke's mind as the green man in front of him disappeared in a small blur. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, he was astounded to see Gai's fist only inches away from his face, without him having even noticed.

Sasuke managed to block, but the force behind the blow was staggering and it sent him sprawling to the ground. He rolled with the force and came back up in his stance, but his sensei was already upon him.

With a flick of his wrist, Gai sent Sasuke's blade flying across the small clearing, only stopping when it had become imbedded up to the hilt in a tree.

The battle was short but brutal. Gai single handedly destroyed Sasuke's defenses, and only using the most basic of taijutsu. There were no fancy tricks, no ninjutsu or weapons. Just quick jabs and kicks that were so fast that even Sasuke's eyes were barely able to track him.

In short order, Sasuke was lying on his back facing the blue skies above him. Gai's face appeared in his peripheral vision.

"You lack speed and determination Sasuke. I can train you to be faster, but I cannot make you determined."

Sasuke was silent as he listened to Gai talk. He had long since noticed that outside of his fits of 'Youthfulness' and 'springtime', he was incredibly insightful. He was right of course. Sasuke still wanted to kill his brother, but even he acknowledged that it was no longer with the same single mindedness that it had been for so many years. His teammates had tempered that out of him.

"What do you want from me!" he shouted as loud as his battered body would allow for,

Gai seemed amused,

"What do you want for yourself?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment,

"My entire life I devoted myself to becoming stronger so that I could kill my brother. I trained in the only thing that I thought might be his weakness. I did everything that every sensei that I had ever had told me to do. I was praised by my teachers and girls, and vilified by the other guys. But it made no difference. The only thing that mattered was becoming stronger, strong enough to do what all of my clan could not."

Sasuke's hand tightened, gripping a handful of dirt and grass,

"Then I graduated, top of my class overall, and highest taijutsu score since the academy modified the training programs. I was put into ANBU, with Sakura and Naruto. I didn't really like either of them, but they were strong enough to serve a purpose. I had intended to use them as mere stepping stones until something better came to me."

Sasuke clenched his eyes shut as a single tear attempted to invade his vision,

"Then Sarutobi came along and gave us those damn masks"

His hand moved to his belt, where the mask was still securely located,

"For years, I hid my sharingan behind a genjutsu, not letting anyone know that I had achieved it. I would study a scroll and imbed the katas into my mind and practice them relentlessly. I watched any sword fight that I could and practiced. I was becoming stronger, and then in one fell swoop, that old bastard took it away. He made me weak"

Sasuke was growing a little hysterical,

"For the first time since I was a young child, I was forced to rely on others. It was more shameful than I could have ever imagined. But it wasn't just me. The more I worked with my teammates, the more I realized that we all were relying on each other, and that when I would fail to communicate with them, we failed as a whole. For six months, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura had utterly ceased to exist. Instead there was only the team, apart we had been rendered useless, but together we were more powerful than ever."

His hand fell off the mask and back onto the grass beneath him. Above head a few clouds lazily floated across the sky,

"When we graduated, Hokage-sama told us,

"**When you cannot walk, you crawl. And when you find that you can no longer crawl… Then you find someone to carry you…"**

Looking back on the time we spent together training, I realize that we had all fallen down and were unable to continue, but we carried each other"

Sasuke sighed and took a deep breath to try to calm himself,

"You asked me why I pushed myself, why I fought."

A small laugh escaped his lips and a small smile lit up his normally stoic features,

"I fight because I hope that tomorrow will be better than today, because there are things that are left in this world left fighting for. I fight for my teammates and the memory of my family. My teammates are the only family that I have left, and as long as they stand by me, I will fight by theirs."

Gai nodded his head,

"A good answer Sasuke, I will endeavor so far as I am able to help you see that dream come true."

He laughed a little as he stared at the rather pitiful sight of Sasuke lying on the ground,

"You know Sasuke. There was a time that I was surrounded by hate. The war and my father had taken everything they could from me. It wasn't until after the war that the Fourth Hokage talked some sense into me, he told me,

"**Gai, it is only when you let go of who you are, that you can become what you were meant to be"**

Sasuke was silent for a moment,

"Do you think he was right?"

Gai nodded,

"I like to think so"

Without saying another word, Gai slowly bent down and picked up Sasuke and began carrying him back to the campsite.

"Hey Gai-sensei"

Gai looked down at Sasuke,

"Hmm?"

Sasuke closed his eyes,

"Thank you, but if you ever tell my teammates what I said, I'll kill you myself."

Gai burst out laughing

"Tomorrow Sasuke, I have a special gift from the Sandaime to give you, a summoning scroll that was given to him by one of his oldest adversaries, and most respected friends."

Sasuke, barely holding onto consciousness asked,

"Who was that?"

Gai leapt up to the trees and began making his way back to camp,

"Have you ever heard of a man named Hanzo?"

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Sakura was out in a large field that was normally reserved for the Hokage and her apprentice Shizune. As it stood, she was training every morning with the Hokage on advanced chakra control and medical techniques, and in the afternoon Shizune would swap with Tsunade and go over more advanced genjutsu. The days were long and the training hard, but her skills in the fields had grown more than she had imagined possible.

Sakura was currently sparring against the Godaime. Granted, if it had been a real fight, Tsunade would have beaten her in a second, but in a friendly spar, Sakura was able to hold her own for at least a little while.

"Tsunade-shishou" Sakura called out in order to get her masters attention.

Tsunade stood up from her fighting stance and waited for Sakura to ask whatever it was that she wanted,

"Do you think that I could try out a new technique that I have been working on?"

Tsunade nodded her head giving her the go ahead. Sakura smiled as she withdrew two small vials of some dark yellow liquid. Tsunade watched them closely,

'Poison?' She thought to herself. 'It looks like a strong sedative more than a poison if the color is anything to go by'

Sakura channeled chakra around her hands in order to create the chakra scalpels that her and so many other medic-nin were fans of using. However that's where the similarities stopped. As soon as the scalpels formed, she crushed the small vials in each hand. Using her chakra she kept the poison carefully dispersed and inside the scalpels.

Shizune was watching from the sidelines,

'She's using her chakra to keep the poison from coming into contact with her own skin and distributed within the scalpel. If an enemy was to be hit with that, it would be devastating. She could lethally poison them without ever having touched them'

Shizune was right of course, that had been the whole idea behind the technique. When Sakura had first learned the scalpel technique she was amazed by its ability to cut internal organs and tendons without ever having to truly come in contact with the person. Using the medical knowledge that she had learned from Tsunade, she learned that it was possible to use chakra to pull poison outside of someone's blood stream, so why wouldn't it be possible to use chakra to put it in?

The idea was simple enough, but actually doing it was a completely different thing. The focus that was necessary was incredible. It took several weeks of working on it before she could maintain her focus on the fight and still keep the poison in suspension.

Sakura took off running at her opponent. Along with medic techniques, Tsunade had been trying to teach Sakura her extreme strength techniques, although it had only been partially successful. As it stood, Sakura just didn't have the necessary chakra reserves to use the technique for an extended period of time.

Tsunade kept a close eye on where those chakra scalpels were throughout the spar. Any punch or block that Sakura used was used to deliver a strong dose of the sedative that laced her hands.

Tsunade however was not easily beaten. She was fully capable of healing herself from the poison just as fast as Sakura could deliver it. Tsunade dodged another jab from Sakura's left hand, only to feel the world lurch horribly.

Doing a slightly jerky jump backwards, Tsunade looked over the situation. Sakura was standing about thirty feet away with a small grin on her face as she watched her sensei wobble a little on her feet.

'_Did she hit me with the poison when I wasn't paying attention?' _ She began a rapid self medical scan, trying to locate wherever it was that Sakura had hit her with the poison. After a couple of seconds, Tsunade smirked _'Clever girl'_

"You used a genjutsu that mimics a common effect of the poisons didn't you?" It was really more of a comment than a question.

Sakura nodded her head,

"I call it dokuga (Poison fang) it's still very basic right now, but I use the poisons as the main offense while simultaneously casting small genjutsu with sounds that mimic the poisons effects. That way they think they have been poisoned when they haven't and whey they have they won't know if it's a genjutsu or the poison"

Tsunade nodded,

"You're going to be a nightmare to fight with that kind of technique. Since the poison is held in suspension by your chakra, you don't even have to break the skin, making it much harder to tell if you actually hit them or not"

Tsunade smiled,

"I like it"

Tsunade stood still for a second while she stared intently at the young pink haired girl in front of her. It was true. Sarutobi had forged them into a magnificent team and weapon. Now it fell to her and the others to refine them, make them perfect. According to Jiraiya, Naruto had already signed the toad's contract and taken the first step towards being considered the newest Gama-sennin. Then Gai had reported in the other day saying that he had taught Sasuke the Omote Renge in order for him to channel the necessary chakra to perform his own summoning. He was unable to summon the boss like Naruto had, but he did summon one of the greater summons, which is almost unheard of from someone as young as them. She planned on having Sakura sign her own summoning contract, but she knew that once the contract was signed, Sakura would be targeted on any battlefield that she entered. No one wanted a second coming of the Sannin. Their summons allowed them to wreak incredible havoc on battlefields.

The pink haired girl was just entering her teenage years, already beginning to blossom into a beautiful young woman. Tsunade had even admitted to Shizune the previous day that Sakura and her team were much stronger than her own team had been in their youth.

"Come over her Sakura, I have a proposition for you."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiraiya was sitting next to his young charge overlooking the deep valley that was several thousand feet below them. Both of them were smoking from almost identical pipes.

"I told you it would grow on you gaki."

Naruto exhaled a small puff of smoke,

"It's relaxing"

Jiraiya nodded his head,

"Tomorrow, you'll have to go back to Konoha to meet up with your team. I've got to go to the border to check up on something and should return within the month. You know your way back"

Naruto nodded and pointed in Konoha's general direction,

"I go south till the mountains end and the forests begin. I should be back within a couple days."

Jiraiya reached into his pocket and withdrew a small scroll. Swiping some blood along the seal inside, he withdrew a small package and handed it to Naruto.

"This is a gift from the Sandaime, he asked me to give it to you before you returned to Konoha."

Naruto opened the plain brown paper wrappings to reveal a white cloak with the kanji for Iwazaru on the shoulder. Along the back was a black leather holster that was made to hold his nodachi. Naruto was awed. A white cloak in ANBU meant that you were the elite. It was normally only reserved for veteran captains.

"I had to make my own modifications of course."

He turned the cloak over and showed Naruto the left shoulder contained the kanji for oil, the same as the one on the Sannin's hitai-ite.

"Your teammates will have one similar to it as well, with only minor modifications made by their own senseis."

Jiraiya stood up,

"Well I need to go, remember your promise though. Sometime you will need to return here and finish your training with the toads."

Naruto nodded,

"As if I'd let him forget it."

Naruto laughed,

"Come on Gamakichi, you know I always keep my promises."

Sitting beside Naruto was a large orange toad, not much larger than a small basketball also smoking from a small pipe. Naruto stood up and donned the mask and cloak that Sarutobi gave him. The large toad leapt up onto his shoulder,

"Come on Aniki, Konoha is waiting for us."

Naruto placed his nodachi into the sheath on his back,

"Well it wouldn't do to keep them waiting, now would it?"

With that Naruto leapt off the cliff and began running down the steep slope towards the village.

Jiraiya was left standing on the large cliff,

"He's a good man Jiraiya he will make the toads and the village proud."

Jiraiya turned around and face the gargantuan toad that was situated behind him.

"I know Gamabunta, but he's still innocent and I cannot help but feel that I have fed him to the wolves."

-------------------------------------------------

Author's notes,

'_**Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.'**_ *

Just to give a little glimpse at the mentality of his father, this is a quote from Adolf Hitler

Last bit of random trivia, does anyone know what movie Jiraiya's little speech about women is from?

So please, review tell me what you think. I'm trying to decide who to pair Naruto with in this fic, so any suggestions there would be appreciated.

Until next time,

Mechen Manachewagan


	3. Chapter 3 A Chance Encounter

San'en Chapter 3

-----------

A Chance Encounter

* * *

Tsunade was sitting in her office with several jounin looking over the final plans for the upcoming chuunin finals. The finals were scheduled to take place less than a week away, but something was bothering her.

"Did Anko tell you anything of importance before she blacked out?"

Kakashi shook his head,

"Nothing that we didn't already know. She was notified by a couple of chuunin about the dead grass team. She immediately recognized the technique as one of Orochimaru's and took off after him into the forest. The chuunin notified the nearby Anbu patrol that I was leading and we took off in pursuit. We sensed a large amount of chakra being used, but it stopped almost a full minute before we arrived at the scene."

Tsunade nodded, she had heard the story several times, but it still didn't make any sense to her.

"Does anybody have an idea of why Orochimaru was running around through the second phase of the exams? It makes no sense to me at all. He showed up, impersonated a genin for only God knows how long, and then just up and leaves after only knocking out a jounin."

Sarutobi was sitting in the corner of the room listening quietly,

"It's possible that he was just testing out our villages' defenses" Spout some random jounin in the back of the office.

Sarutobi cut in,

"That is a possibility, but highly unlikely. Orochimaru was never one to take unnecessary risks like that. If that's all he wanted, he would have sent in a team, not gone himself. No, if I had to take a guess, I would say he was looking for something."

Kakashi straightened himself from the wall that he had been leaning on.

"Makes as much sense as any other idea that we've come up with, but do you have any idea what he was looking for?"

Sarutobi tapped out his pipe and went about repacking it,

"I cannot say for certain, but if I had to make a guess, I would say he came to give someone the cursed seal."

There was a small gasp that resounded throughout the room. Only a few of the younger jounin seemed oblivious to what the old man was talking about.

Tsunade set the file that outlined the attack on Anko down on her desk,

"What makes you think that sensei?"

Sarutobi shrugged his shoulders,

"Like I said, I can't be sure, but it's the only reason that I can think of that he would come in himself. Anything else that he could possibly do, he could do remotely through an insurgent. Orochimaru is nothing if not cautious."

Tsunade nodded her head as she remembered her years working with the snake Sannin. It was true. He would never put himself in the way of danger unless it was absolutely necessary. Even if he was just testing the village's defenses, he would rather send an entire army to their deaths than risk any injury to himself.

"So assuming that we're right, and he came into the village to place the seal on somebody, who was he trying to find?"

Sarutobi was the first to answer again,

"Given his obsession with jutsu and the age group that he purposefully infiltrated, I would be willing to bet that was after Uchiha Sasuke"

Tsunade nodded her head,

"That makes the most sense I suppose, so we will go with that for now. Until I tell you all further, begin making any preparation that you have for the upcoming attack from the Sound"

One by one all the jounin began making their way out of the Hokage's office and back into the village to begin more preparations.

Sarutobi however walked towards the desk, limping heavily and using a cane to support his weight. Very few in the village new that he was in fact uninjured, and he intended to keep it that way.

"The fact that he attacked the chuunin exams looking for Sasuke proves that he doesn't know where Sasuke is. Which means no one knows where Sasuke, Naruto, or Sakura are."

Tsunade pulled out a bottle of sake along with 2 small cups,

"I suppose that is one good thing about this whole fiasco. Hopefully it will remain unknown for a while longer. The last thing that team needs is for my rogue teammate to target them. They may be good, but they are nowhere near the level that they would need to be to pose a challenge to him."

Sarutobi nodded his head,

"Indeed, but the question is, what do you plan to do with the team now that you know Sasuke is being targeted?"

Tsunade sighed. What should she do? Her first instinct was to hide the team away for a couple of months again while the trouble passed, but with war between the Leaf and Sound brewing, she couldn't just ignore a very strong team of Anbu, they could prove vital in the defense of the city. However, putting the team out on the front line would increase the odds of being found by the enemy and destroyed. Word was already spreading about this new group of mysterious Anbu called the San'en, but no one had any clue as to their identities. It helped that they had never failed a mission, so very few even knew what they looked like even in their uniforms.

"I'll keep them active, but I don't want them to play an integral part in the cities defenses if we can prevent it. The odds of one of them being recognized, especially Naruto or Sasuke are too great."

Sarutobi nodded in agreement.

"When is Naruto expected to return to Konoha?"

Tsunade took a sip of the hard rice wine before answering her old teacher.

"According to the Jiraiya, he should be back within the day, barring any unforeseen problems. I would give the team a day off, but since we are in a state of impending invasion, that's not an option. The best I can do is to put them on standby for a day or two."

Sarutobi chuckled.

"I honestly doubt that they will care about the day off or not. I mean in all honesty, every time you've given them time off, we end up calling them in early anyways."

* * *

Naruto was around twenty miles outside the village when the meeting with the jounin was taking place. He moved silently through the thick canopy of the ancient trees that Konoha was known for. His white cloak stayed miraculously clean throughout the entire journey back to the village. Jiraiya said that there were seals sewn into the fabric that prevented dirt from sticking to the cloth, which seemed like a waste of time to Naruto, but not having to wash the cloak was a plus.

The cloak was truly one of the greatest honors that the Hokage could bestow to an Anbu. In the literal sense it made no difference in rank. Most people outside of Anbu thought the cloak was given to the Anbu when they were made a Captain. While it is true that there have only been a handful that attained the Captain rank without receiving a white cloak that was not what the cloak meant. No, what the white signified was that the Hokage implicitly trusted the ones who wore the cloak and that she held them in high esteem.

His title, Iwazaru was proudly stitched into the cloak, along with the kanji for oil. Both served as warning to anyone who crossed his path that not only was he elite, but also trained by one of the Sannin.

Other than his cloak the only other visible articles were his mask and sword. The dark black sheath of the nodachi stood out on his back, along with the bright blue spiral on the sheath.

In the distance he could see a group of about 6 children walking down the road at a rather slow pace. Naruto paused on one of the large trees to watch the group as they ran about. After a couple of moments it dawned on him that the group was most likely a batch of academy students being trained in wilderness survival.

Sure enough, after a couple seconds of searching he could make out the chuunin who was watching over them to make sure none of the got into something they couldn't handle. Since the chuunin wasn't actively participating in the class that meant that they must be near the end of their survival training and were trying to make it on their own for a couple of days while the instructors watched. The group was of course left with the impression that the instructor had left and that they were supposed to make their own way back to the village by themselves.

Naruto took a moment to remove the flask of water from his belt and take a long draught of the cool liquid. Now that he was out of the higher mountains, the air was considerably warmer. That and it hadn't rained in at least two weeks now. It may have been the onset of winter in the northern mountains, but further south summer was just coming to an end. With a sigh he place the flask back into its holster and prepared to go around the group when something caught his eye.

The chuunin had just fallen out of his tree and crumpled to the ground.

The class was startled by the sudden appearance of their sensei. After a couple of seconds one of the girls screamed.

The chuunin had a kunai embedded in his skull.

The next several moments happened quickly. Three shinobi in dark grey chuunin uniforms leapt out, soon followed by an older jounin. All four wore the symbol of Kumogakure with a single line scratched through the metal.

'_Missing-nin'_ Naruto thought darkly. He held traitors in deep contempt, after all the ninth layer of hell was reserved solely for traitors.

The four men took positions around the class. The jounin was the first to speak.

"Who among you is the one known as Hyuuga Hanabi?"

The group huddled closer together and clutched their small kunai desperately. They may have been ninja in training, but none of them looked to be any older than 7 or 8.

"Come on we don't have all day!" Shouted one of the chuunin.

Naruto made a single seal and quietly said,

"Kage-bunshin no jutsu"

With a few hand signs he motioned for the ten solid clones to encompass the group as quietly as possible. As he got close he slowly slid his nodachi from its sheath and held it lightly in his hands while he waited for his clones to get into position.

After several tense moments while the jounin interrogated the group of young children relentlessly in an effort to discover the whereabouts of the young Hyuuga the jounin grew quiet.

"I will ask you one more time… Where is Hyuuga Hanabi?"

When none of the students answered him, the three chuunin pulled out the slightly longer kunai that Kumo favored. They looked like they were about ready to strike when suddenly the jounin motioned for them to stop.

"We're being watched… Feel free to come out and show yourself Konoha scum."

Naruto was hesitant to move and give up his location, but at the same time all of his clones were under standing orders not to attack until he did, so none of them would walk out unless he told them to.

"Come out or we will start killing the students one by one"

With a sigh Naruto stood up and leapt into the gap between the students and the missing-nin. He clutched his sword tightly in his hands as he prepared to defend the students.

"An Anbu" Said the jounin with a slightly crazed look on his face. "No wonder I didn't notice you sooner"

The jounin was obviously waiting for Naruto to respond, but when nothing but silence came, he grew irritated.

"What's the matter scum? To scared to talk?" asked one of the rather cocky chuunin to his right. "I guess you're about as scary as these worthless students."

With a quick snap of his wrist the chuunin threw a kunai directly at the chest of a young girl in a Chinese shirt that buttoned down the left side.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto's sword flashed brightly as he cleanly cut the thrown knife in two.

"So you do have some skill?" The jounin motioned for the three chuunin to engage him. As the cocky one struck with another kunai, the other two made a few hand signs and yelled.

"Raiton: Denkiwoobiru Batsu no jutsu!" (Lightning release: Charged Strike) Their short swords suddenly crackled with lighting chakra as they leapt into the fray.

Naruto frowned as he felt the two rapidly approach from behind him. He made a quick sign to one of clones before he blocked kunai the chuunin in front of him was trying to stab him with. Suddenly a pair of short swords covered in lighting stabbed through his back, crackling loudly.

"Too easy" boasted the cocky chuunin. Naruto slowly raised his head to stare at the man in front of him. The man glared at his face when suddenly Naruto erupted in a large explosion of smoke. The smoke cleared after a couple of seconds and the cocky chuunin found both of his teammates lying dead on the ground. Their own swords stuck deep into their left shoulders between the collar bone and shoulder blade.

"You talk too much" Naruto muttered in the man's ear.

The chuunin jumped away trying to put some distance between himself and the Anbu, but he didn't get far. Another clone appeared behind him, blocking the view of the students and ran his own sword through the chuunin before his jumped back into the trees taking the chuunin with him.

Naruto turned and glared at the jounin, who had yet to move throughout the entire ordeal.

"I thought I recognized you Iwazaru. You and your team created quite a stir in Kumo a few months back from what I heard. Took out a team of highly trained chuunin in a matter of seconds and got out of there before our own team could make contact."

The man stared at him for a couple more seconds,

"They say that no one who has ever heard you speak and lived. Is that true Iwazaru?"

The man's face broke out into a crazed smile.

"I was going to take the Hyuuga to Kumo like my failure of a brother tried to do. But I think your head would be a better prize."

With a dismissive wave at the students,

"Go home to your parents"

The students didn't need to be told twice as they all began running towards Konoha as fast as their short legs would carry them. The young girl with the Chinese shirt was the only one who looked back, as if embedding the picture of their savior to her memory.

Once of the students were a safe distance away, Naruto applied a small amount of chakra to his mask to allow him to speak to his enemy.

"While appreciate you letting them go, do not assume that I will give you the same courtesy."

The jounin laughed,

"Nor did I expect it. I have to admit though Iwazaru, you are shorter than I had imagined."

Without another delay, Naruto struck out with his sword. He applied chakra to his limbs to increase his speed and strength. The jounin drew a shorter ninjato and began parrying Naruto's lightning fast strikes.

The pair danced around the open road for several minutes. Rushing forward and clashing their blades in rapid succession before parting again, sparks filled the air as Naruto's longer sword clashed mightily on the jounin's shorter ninjato. Seeing a small opening Naruto swept the ninjato aside and buried his sword deep in the older ninja's stomach.

The man grunted in pain for a second, before he laughed. Naruto tried to leap back, but his body was suddenly encased in a gargantuan amount of lightning chakra. His whole body screamed out in pain as the electricity raced along every synapse of every nerve. After what seemed like an eternity the lightning faded. He knew every one of his clones had dispelled during the attack, leaving him with no back up.

His muscles, which had gone rigid as the electricity coursed through his body, suddenly gave out and he crumpled to the ground, smoke rising from behind his mask and cloak, both of which appeared completely undamaged.

Naruto heard the crunch of dirt as the jounin approached from the side.

"It's called a Rai Bunshin" (Lighting Clone)

A boot suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision as the jounin looked down at him. He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra rapidly healing the burns across his body as his chakra was already starting to return.

"If you are Konoha's best, then I am amazed that the village has not been destroyed"

Without saying a word, Naruto pushed off the ground with his hands and leapt to his feet. The surprised jounin leapt back and held his sword ready. Slowly Naruto reached up and pulled the hood of his cloak down, revealing his mask. He began channeling an enormous amount of chakra and once again applied a tiny bit to his mask. The jounin watched in thinly veiled terror as saw the Anbu shake off his most devastating technique like it was almost nothing.

Behind his mask, Naruto was furious. That technique had hurt like hell. He was amused though to see the look on the older jounin's face.

He held out his hand and began channeling a ridiculous amount of chakra when he spoke to the jounin one last time.

"Yeah" Naruto muttered in a low voice "I'm a shitload of scary"

With that said Naruto struck.

"Katon: Ennetsujigoku (Fire Release: Flames of Hell)"

Suddenly the jounin's entire world erupted in bright white fire. He heard someone scream for a second before he realized the scream was his own.

"Odd" He thought as he felt the fire engulf him completely in its scorching embrace "It feels cold…"

After a minute Naruto released the jutsu. The sandy soil was a perfect circle of swirled glass. Nothing remained of the jounin.

Naruto slowly walked forward, his feet falling heavily on the earth. He bent down to one knee and retrieved his sword. Stabbing it into the ground he used it as a crutch to get back to his feet. He frowned as he noticed the slightly bluish steel was scorched.

Silently he placed the sword onto his back and made his way down the trail.

* * *

Several miles down the road Naruto felt a presence rapidly approaching him from straight ahead. It was with a sigh of relief that he saw Sasuke in his Mizaru outfit approaching him. He too was proudly wearying a white cloak with Mizaru stitched into the shoulder. On the other side was written, **When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be**.

Sasuke came to a stop several feet in front of him and looked him over through his activated mask.

"You look like you need a band-aid"

Naruto, similarly releasing his own seals on his mask replied and pointed down the road in the direction that he came from.

"Somebody else needs a body bag back down the road"

Sasuke chuckled and extended a hand to his teammate

"It's good to have you back Naruto"

"Did the students meet up with you?"

Sasuke nodded as they began walking down the trail at a rather sedate pace, it was obvious to him that Naruto was tired from travel and then fighting.

"Yeah they met up with Gai-sensei and myself a little ways down the trail. Gai stayed with the students while I went to see if you needed any help"

Naruto chuckled,

"You need to work on your timing then Teme, you're a little late"

The pair walked in silence for several more miles towards the gates of Konoha before they saw anyone else. Sakura dropped down from the branches of a tall tree landing directly in front of the pair. She too wore a white cloak with Kikazaru embroidered on one side, the other bore the word Dokumushi (Poisonous Slug). She stared at the group for a second before walking over and gave both them a brief hug.

"Okaerinasai (Welcome home)" She said softly

She released them both and began walking on Naruto's other side. The trio continued at a rather sedate pace.

"It's not every day that you see three Anbu strolling down the middle of a road in broad daylight."

Naruto started laughing, not that anyone could hear it. Not wanting to waste the chakra to simply flicked the group in front of them off.

Sakura smacked him upside the head.

"That's no way to greet the Hokage!"

Tsunade laughed at the group's antics while Sasuke and Sarutobi just shook their heads.

"Just meet me in my office already"

With that said the group of five disappeared simultaneously in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

"Feel free to remove your masks and robes, the office is sealed. Not even a Hyuuga would be able to see your faces in here"

The three complied, quickly sealing both the masks cloaks inside a small seal hidden somewhere on their person. They took a moment to look each other over, noting the obvious differences.

Sakura was wearing a pair of short pink shorts with a white belt, along with a black vest like top. Lastly she had a small silver necklace in the shape of a leaf around her neck.

Naruto was dressed in his new jumpsuit. It was similar to the old one, just darker. What had been bright orange and white was now burnt orange and black. Six small scrolls hung along a chain on his right side. Like the other two, his hitai-ate covered the Anbu tattoo on his arm.

Surprisingly Sasuke was still dressed the exact same as he was before. He just looked… happier?

"I'm surprised you're not wearing a green body suit Sasuke-teme" Naruto remarked

Sasuke turned and glared at his teammate,

"Don't remind me… That crazy Sensei actually bought me one…"

Both Sakura and Naruto started to laugh at the idea of Sasuke running around wearing some obscene green jump suit. Even Sarutobi and Tsunade chuckled at the idea.

"Well anyways I'm glad to have you all back here. It is unlikely that any of you will be finding much time for any more formal training outside of spars and a little general practice in the upcoming months. You all know that Orochimaru is planning something, but it doesn't look like he'll be doing anything till the exams begin again. I can't afford to give you three any real time off right now, but I will put you on standby for two days, so just make sure your ready to go if you get called up ok?"

The young Anbu all nodded their heads at the same time.

"Good, well then go get something to eat and be kids for a little while. I'm sure many of your friends are wondering why your team was absent from the chuunin exam, so if anyone asks, just tell them that you were supposed to compete but got held up in a mission ok?"

"Any mission in particular Hokage-sama?" asked Sasuke

"Just say you were on a C rank protecting a mining community up north. You were up there for a week or so, so you should be able to field any questions that they ask you."

Seeing that the kids understood the story she waved them out of her office.

As they began walking out, Sakura turned and looked at the other two.

"So do you guys have any ideas on what you're going to do with your time off for the next couple of days?"

Sasuke just shrugged,

"I don't know, I was thinking relax for the day. Maybe go to the bath house or something. What about you Naruto?"

Naruto pulled his sword off his back and unsheathed it.

"I have to go down to a weapons shop somewhere and have them look at my sword. When I stabbed that Rai bunshin (Lightning Clone) I think it may have messed up my sword so I want to get it looked at."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow,

"You stabbed a Rai Bunshin with your sword?"

Naruto nodded his head,

"Well I suppose that would explain why you were smoking when I found you. I just assumed it was from whatever fire technique that you pulled off."

Naruto shook his head,

"That technique was a little overkill I suppose, but he really pissed me off."

Sakura looked over at her teammates,

"What was the technique?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders,

"It's called Ennetsujigoku (Flames of Hell), it mixes a spiral of wind chakra and fire chakra to create a super hot flame that reduces just about everything to ash"

Sakura and Sasuke both looked at him extremely surprised,

"You can mix your nature chakra affinities?" asked Sakura.

"It was one of the things that Ero-sennin and I worked on quite a bit. It took a lot of practice, but I got a few good techniques down. The hardest part is keeping them small, right now I don't think any of the techniques are any good to use when we're fighting as a team."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders,

"Either way it's still impressive. That and knowing you, they use up so much chakra that no one else in their right mind would ever want to use them."

Naruto looked a little confused as he sheathed his sword and slung it over his shoulder.

"What makes you think that?"

Sakura was the one who answered,

"Naruto, at graduation you pulled off a high B rank earth technique. And you have absolutely no affinity for earth, which means you did it using just raw chakra. That kind of stunt would have killed almost anyone else."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head wearing a stupid grin.

"Yeah, I am kind of awesome like that. So do either of you know a weapons shop that actually has a swords smith?"

Most shops that sold ninja gear carried all the basics, but very few actually had a black smith. Finding a shop that had a sword smith was even rarer.

Sasuke took out a piece of paper and wrote down the name of a store.

"Here, there's a place at the outer edge of the business district that runs a smaller family ran weapons shop. They've taken care of any damages that my gear has taken at a fair price."

Naruto thanked him and took the paper and began walking towards the business districts.

* * *

Naruto was wandering around the various shops that littered the downtown region of Konoha keeping his eyes open for the small weapons shop that Sasuke had mentioned to him. He had been wandering around the shops for near an hour. Sasuke couldn't remember the exact location of the shop, just a general area that it was in.

Finally he rounded a corner and came to a less busy street. At the far end he could make out a large wooden sign hanging off the edge of the worn brick wall.

'Minamoto Weapons' He thought as he double-checked the name of Sasuke had written down on the paper. Placing the scrap of paper back into his pocket he pushed open the solid wooden door and walked inside.

Inside was a vast multitude of unique and various weapons. Most stores sold mass produced stuff that was meant to be used and discarded. It was obvious that this store produced fine weapons that were meant to last years and then be given on to someone else.

"And then this monkey mask guy was all like kwaah! And he cut the kunai in two like it was nothing. And he was soooo fast. He was like there and then behind them and swinging his sword like bwah! Yah! And then he went POOF! And disappeared!"

A young girl in a pair of black capri pants and a pink Chinese style shirt jumped around swinging a short wooden sword avidly along with her sound effects. An older girl dressed in similar clothing watched what appeared to be her younger sister with a smile on her face.

"Ok Chichi, I'll listen to the rest of your story later, but right now we need to help a customer."

The younger girl nodded her head and spun around with a huge smile on her face,

"Irashaimase (Welcome)!" she exclaimed loudly

Naruto couldn't help but smile back; the young girl's bright smile with a couple of missing teeth was absolutely adorable. He nodded his back to her,

"Hello, do you think either you or your sister could help me with something please?"

The young girl nodded her head,

"Onee-chan can help you"

The older girl, who looked to only be a little older than Naruto got off her stool and patted her sister on the head,

"Why don't you go do your homework, ok?"

The younger sister pouted but went to go do her homework anyways. After she was on her way the older sister turned back to Naruto.

"You'll have to excuse her, she just got back from a week long survival training from the academy and apparently some Anbu saved her group from some 'bad people'"

Naruto laughed while he inwardly thought,

'Well what was the chance of that?'

"Anyways, my name is Minamoto Tenten, what can I help you with."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto"

Naruto pulled his large nodachi from his back and placed it on the counter, Tenten's eyes widened in surprise looking at the weapon.

"That's a beautiful nodachi. When I saw the sheath I expected a normal katana or ninjato, not something like this."

Naruto smiled at the girl,

"It was my mother's actually. It hasn't been until the last year or so that I've begun learning how to use the sword. But in my last fight it got hit pretty hard with a Raiton technique and I think it may of screwed something up."

He took the blade out of the sheath and set it back down on the counter.

"See when it was hit it scorched the metal really bad."

Tenten picked up the sword and inspected it closely with her eye. She ran her hand along the blade.

"Honestly this is outside of my expertise. I can go and get my father from the shop out back and have him take a look at it and see what he thinks if you can wait here for a couple of minutes I'll go get him."

She walked back around the counter and made her way down a hallway that apparently led to where her father was. Naruto took time to wander around the room and looked at all the different weapons on the walls. There were a wide variety of different shorter swords and knives of different sizes, along with more unique weapons like what looked like a metal scythe hanging on the wall.

"Hey Mister! Do you know what the Sandaime's summons are? I need it for a question on my homework."

Naruto looked over to the corner where the young girl sat at a table with a couple sheets of paper in front of her. Naruto walked over to the table and looked at the sheet of paper.

"Well the Sandaime was known for summoning monkeys, in particular the monkey boss Enma."

Naruto had to suppress a shudder. He had met Enma a couple of times and while the giant gorilla was kind of cool, it was more sadistic than Saru-sensei.

She wrote down what he said and put the paper away inside a red folder.

"Well I'm going to go practice throwing stuff, so good luck with your big sword thing."

Jumping off the small chair she deposited the folder in a backpack and skipped down the same hallway that her sister had walked down. As she went around the corner, a large man wearing a heavy leather apron walked into the store.

He walked over to the counter and picked up the large blade that looked like a normal sized katana is his large hands. Naruto walked back over to the counter as he examined the sword with his expert eye.

"Well kid, you sure did do a number on this sword. I don't know what you hit it with, but whatever it was you're lucky to be alive. You're right though, it heated up the metal enough to really screw up the tempering job. I can temper the blade again for you, but it will never be as strong as it was. I'd suggest that you look into getting a new sword."

Naruto felt like he had just been told a good friend was dying. The look must have been pretty obvious on his face.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but maybe my father can make you a new sword."

Naruto could tell that the teen was trying to cheer him up, but it didn't really help much.

"I'm sorry kid, but I don't really make nodachi. Especially not anything like this. But if you'd like I can at least repair it the best I can. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."

Naruto nodded his head as he stared rather disheartened at the blade sitting down on the counter.

"Do you know how much it will cost?"

The man scratched at the stubble of his beard as he looked closely at Naruto.

"Well normally I would charge a couple hundred yen for something like that, but if you do me a favor and teach Tenten-chan here a little bit about your sword style, I'd be willing to fix it for free."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in obvious confusion, so the man elaborated.

"My daughter here wants to learn as much as she can about every weapon she can, and true swordsmen are kind of hard to come by. Even rarer is it for someone to actually be willing to teach their skills to someone outside their clan, but since I don't recognize that clan symbol" he points to the swirl on the sheath of the katana "I thought you might be willing to show her a couple of things."

Naruto stared at the man for a couple of seconds,

"What makes you think I'm good enough with a sword to be able to teach her anything?"

The older man shrugged and pointed to Naruto's ring,

"Because Hosokawa wouldn't have let just anyone wear his families' bushido and seal in plain sight unless he thought they were good."

Naruto smiled sheepishly,

"I never expected anyone here to recognize that seal."

The man laughed,

"I suppose most people in a ninja village wouldn't, but I used to make weapons and armaments for him and his samurai. It wasn't until my wife was pregnant with Tenten-chan here that we moved to Konoha so we wouldn't have to move around so often."

The man smoothly slid the nodachi back into its black lacquered sheath,

"So are you willing to make the trade then?"

Naruto thought about it for a second,

"I suppose I can do that. Although I really don't know what I will be able to teach her."

The man shrugged,

"Well I'll go work on the sword for a while. Why don't you two grab a couple of the practice swords off the wall and go to a training ground or something to practice while I finish the sword."

The man started walking away and Tenten looked back at Naruto for a second,

"I'll be right back. I just have to grab some things from the shop"

With that she ran down the hall after her father.

"Otousan!" Tenten called out lightly after her father as he made his way back into shop to work on the sword.

The man stopped and looked back at his daughter expectantly.

"Why do I have to learn from him? He's not any older than I am?"

The man waived his impatient daughter into the shop and closed the door behind him.

"The man I mentioned, Hosokawa, is a General in the Daimyo's military. His samurai are amongst the best swordsman in the world. If that kid impressed the man enough to of been given a ring like that, then he must have shown a lot of promise. It's very rare for Hosokawa to train anyone outside of his own soldiers."

The man sighed,

"Look, if he doesn't teach you anything, then at least you've gotten yourself a training partner. All you've done since you got beaten in the second exam is either work at the shop or help that teammate of yours. Just because both of your teammates made it to the finals and you didn't isn't any reason to slack off. If you don't start practicing a little more you're going to fall behind. And at least if you get good with a sword you won't be stuck the next time you come across a wind user."

Tenten knew she had lost the argument,

"Fine, but he had better know what he's talking about."

As she walked back she grabbed a pair of standard katanas off the wall and made her way back down the hallway.

"Ok Naruto let's get going." She said as she pasted a fake smile on her face.

* * *

A short while Naruto found himself standing opposite of the slightly older girl.

"Well Tenten I'll be honest with you, I've never taught a single person anything. So I'm going to start us out the same way that my sensei first started with my training."

Tenten stared at him for a second with a mildly unimpressed look on her features.

"And how did this 'Sensei' of yours start off?"

Naruto grinned and removed the borrowed katana from the sheath.

"With a spar."

Tenten grinned back. She knew as soon as she beat this kid, maybe her dad would get her a proper sword instructor. She quickly pulled her own katana from its sheath and cast the sheath aside. Holding the blade in a strong grip directly in front of her, she readied herself.

Naruto smirked at the rather amateur stance that Tenten was depicting. While she did have the basics of the stance down, bent knees and weight resting on the balls of her feet, the finer points were non-existent. Naruto held his sword lightly in his grip and waited patiently for Tenten to make the first move.

He didn't have to wait long.

Tenten pumped chakra to her legs and raced forward as rapidly as possible, hoping to catch Naruto off guard with her speed. Deciding to try to land a decisive blow right from the start she jumped high into the air, arcing of the top of her opponent. With a strong pull, she threw her entire body weight into the blow and tried to bring the sword down hard on her opponent's right shoulder.

As she jumped into the air, Naruto almost laughed at the irony of the situation.

'_Well this seems oddly familiar' _He thought as he recalled his first spar with his Sensei that Hosokawa had assigned him. Deciding to mimic his Sensei, Naruto smoothly sidestepped the obvious attack and smacked her now exposed back with the flat of his blade sending the older girl sprawling to the ground.

Tenten's eyes watered from the force of the blow to her back as she rolled across the ground and jumped back to her feet.

"Your quick Tenten, I will give you that. However you are up against a opponent of greater ability, so it will take more than just a little boost in speed to land a blow on me."

Tenten bristled at this punk's seemingly casual remark during their spar. Grabbing her sword tightly again she rushed back at the still stationary Naruto. She drew back her sword to try for a hard slash at her opponent's side. Naruto casually parried the blow and slightly flicked his wrist causing her katana to slip out of her hand and imbed itself in the ground several feet away. Naruto then followed up with another blow to her arm using the flat of his blade.

Tenten winced as the metal slapped along her bicep. She jumped back and pulled hard on her sword to remove it from the ground. She held the sword up in a ready position and prepared to charge at Naruto once more when Naruto suddenly went on the offensive.

Tenten barely had time to raise her own sword in a meager defense when Naruto's katana crashed down on it, sending small sparks flying into the air. The force of the blow almost knocked Tenten off her feet. When she regained her balance she saw Naruto preparing to make a thrust at her midsection. Relying purely on instinct she swept his sword to the side.

Naruto suddenly pushed down hard and pinned her sword to the ground. With a quick kick to her wrist he sent the blade flying out from her grip. The rolled on the ground, not coming to a halt until it was well outside of her reach. Naruto calmly poised the edge of his blade within a millimeter of the girl's neck.

"You show promise Tenten. Your reflexes are faster than most, and you have a good instinct with the blade. However, you are also overconfident and anger too quickly. Three times now in this spar I held your life in my hands and I gave it back. If we were on the field and I was your enemy, not a friend, you would not be going home."

Tenten shut her eyes. She wanted to be angry with him for defeating her so soundly without even making it look difficult, but in a lot of ways he was right. If this had been a real fight, she would of died there. Still, the remnants of her pride wouldn't allow her to admit her defeat so easily.

"If this were a real fight, I could of beaten you."

Naruto laughed lightly at the scowling girl as he dropped his sword to his side and offered her a hand off the ground.

"Maybe you would have. But unfortunately for you, this was a sword fight, not a ninja's fight."

Tenten accepted his hand as he pulled her back to her feet. After a moment of dusting herself off she looked back at Naruto.

"I'm sorry that I misjudged you Naruto. I assumed that you would be only a mediocre swordsman who would be able to teach me nothing. Obviously I was wrong."

Naruto smiled at her,

"Actually, compared to the man who taught me, I am only mediocre."

Tenten shook her head at his easy dismissal of her apology. With a slight limp she made her way back over to where her sword was resting on the ground. She picked the sword up and turned around to see Naruto watching her rather closely.

"Are you going to teach me anything else?"

Naruto sighed and walked over towards her,

"I guess we'll start off with some of the basic katas."

He raised his sword up,

"Follow my movements the best that you can…"

--

Tsunade sat at her desk looking over the various reports that were coming from her border patrols trying to watch for any movements from her old teammate. So far he had done a remarkably good job of staying under the radar. If it wasn't for the info coming in through Jiraiya's spy network she may of missed the impending invasion all together. So far it seemed that he was moving in his people very slowly and only in small groups so they would be harder to identify.

Tsunade looked up at the large map that was pinned up on one of the walls of her office. The map had a large grouping of pins that showed where Sound-nin had been known to cross into Hi no Kuni.

"There isn't nearly as many of them coming from what I would of expected."

Tsunade looked over her shoulder to see her teammate sitting on the window ledge looking into her office.

"Don't you ever use the door?"

Jiraiya jumped off the ledge and landed on his feet, still staring at the board on the wall.

"It looks like Orochimaru is only mobilizing a little over half of his armies. He left most of them back in his Village."

Tsunade picked up another scroll and added another pin to the map.

"So you think this is only a diversion or something?"

Jiraiya shook his head,

"No, if it was just a diversion he wouldn't be leading the army himself. I'm guessing that he doesn't want to risk his entire force on an attack that might not actually completely destroy the leaf. So he's going to attempt to attempt to damage us as much as he can in one fell blow."

Tsunade looked at him questioningly,

"And how do you think he's going to do something like that. I mean with the army that he's bringing he won't be getting very far, its easily less than a quarter of the size of our army."

Jiraiya plopped down on the plush couch that sat at the far side of her office.

"Well the most obvious way to do it would be to attack when it would hurt us the most."

Tsunade poured a small cup of sake for both of them and sat down on a chair near the couch.

"And when do you think it would hurt the most."

Jiraiya's stared at the wall for a second as if he were choosing his words very carefully.

"He's not going to attack around the time of the chuunin exam. He's going to attack during the exam itself. When every major Lord and business man within a few hundred miles is going to be here."

Tsunade stared at him for a second waiting to see if this was just some sort of sick joke. It made sense to attack then, but the repercussions on the leaf could potentially destroy the village economically.

"We need to make it clear that we came out on top of this attack then Jiraiya. This attack is either going to make us look more powerful than ever, or it is going to completely debase us. Lets try to make sure that it's the former."

Jiraiya nodded as head as he drained the cup of sake in a single go.

"Well we're off to a good start with that at least. We already have almost 100% of our forces stationed within the village. The only people still out in the field are a couple of the border patrols and even most of them have been pulled back."

Tsunade nodded,

"I'll have the Anbu and some jounin start laying out as many traps around the outer perimeter of the village soon to try to waylay as many of the groups as I can. Other than that most of the villages defenses will be spread out around the village wall and inside the arena itself."

Jiraiya was staring at the map that Tsunade had pinned up,

"Ne, Tsunade, what's that black pin near the edge of River country mean?"

Tsunade looked over at the pin he was talking about. It was right along the edge of River Country, which sat directly between Fire country and Wind country.

"Red pins are where we've received reports on the Sound-nin, blue are current border patrol locations, and black are patrols that have missed a check-in."

Jiraiya was still focused on the map so Tsunade elaborated,

"It's just a team of new chuunin on that patrol and its not uncommon for a report to come in a little late. If no one checks in by tomorrow afternoon I'll send another team out there to check up on him or her."

Jiraiya nodded his head,

"Send the San'en or another team of strong Anbu"

Tsunade stared at him for a second,

"Why? Its just a missed check-in, its not uncommon, especially among new chuunin."

Jiraiya shrugged,

"Call it a hunch, but a team going missing this close to an invasion just sends up red flags to me."

Tsunade shrugged her shoulders,

"I'll send the San'en then I suppose. They're the only team currently on standby."

Jiraiya stood up and made his way back towards the window.

"I'm going to go help Sensei with adding more security seals to the walls and main gates. Send a messenger if you need me for anything else."

Tsunade sighed as her perverted teammate leapt from the window onto the roof of a business below them. The white haired guy was a stupid pervert, but he really was indispensable.

--

Early the next morning Naruto was making his way back down the road to Minamoto Weapons to pick up his nodachi. After helping Tenten train the previous day, he and Sakura had scoured all the weapons shops in Konoha looking for an adequate replacement for his damaged nodachi, unfortunately it seemed the weapon was far more rare than he had anticipated. Most stores didn't carry anything like that since most ninja believed them to be too much of a burden to use. That and none of the swords smiths in Konoha had ever made a blade as long as the nodachi that he used, so they were all unsure about how to go about making one. All in all it left him in a bit of bind.

After a few minutes of walking Naruto had finally reached his destination. Walking up to the building he opened the solid door and walked inside. Unlike the previous day, Tenten and her sister were not the ones watching the store. Instead their large father, his heavy hammer still tucked into his belt.

"Ah, Naruto-san, I'm glad you came. I finished the repairs on your sword. I was hoping you would of come back with Tenten yesterday after training to pick it up."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders,

"I'm sorry. I had meant to but I had to get to a team meeting afterwards and didn't have time."

It was mostly true anyways. There had been a short Anbu meeting called by Saru to go over the plans for the defense of the city. Apparently they had reason to believe that Orochimaru would lead the attack and that the attack would be on the day of the chuunin final examinations.

"Well its no problem really." The jovial man said as he took Naruto's nodachi out from under the counter.

"This is quite the sword you have hear you know that?"

Naruto walked over to the counter and looked down at the sword. It was back to its normal blue hue and the scorch marks were gone, but the color seemed a little less vibrant than it had been prior to the fight.

"That sword was actually made to accept nature chakra, water in particular. Threw me fore quite loop really because it was incredibly hard to get it hot enough to actually temper the steel,"

Naruto looked up at the smith,

"What do you mean its made for nature chakra?"

The man shrugged,

"There used to be a few great sword smiths across the country that could actually incorporate a persons nature chakra into weapons for the person. I know Sarutobi Asuma has a pair of trench knives that do something similar for wind chakra."

Naruto stared down at the sword,

'_My mother had water nature chakra?' _It was really more a rhetorical question. Obviously if the woman went out of the way to get a sword that channeled water nature chakra, then she was a water user.

"I assume that this sword wasn't made for you then?"

Naruto looked up at the smith in confusion,

"Why do you think that?"

The man shrugged,

"Well obviously if it had been made for you, you would of known about it being special. I'm guessing by the look on your face that you're not even aligned with water."

Naruto shook is head,

"No, I'm aligned with wind and fire."

The smiths did a double take before responding,

"Wait, did you say wind AND fire?"

Naruto nodded,

"Yeah, why?"

The man still looked astonished,

"I've been working with shinobi for years and the only other person that I've known to have more than one chakra nature was the Shodaime Hokage. A lot of people are able to train until they can more easily use multiple chakras, but it's very rare to actually have complete control over two. A lot of people actually consider it a bloodline."

Naruto was surprised to hear that having two affinities was so rare. He had always just assumed that everyone could have multiple chakras if they trained hard enough.

"I know you said that I should look into getting the sword replaced before it gets damaged again, but no one in Konoha seems to make any nodachi that aren't purely ornamental."

The man stared at the kid in front of him. He knew that something was different with this child. If what Tenten had said was correct, his skills with a sword were almost samurai like. The way he carried himself with confidence, how he reacted to things. This kid was a lot more than just a meager genin. It was subtle, but it was the dual chakra natures that had finally made him decide.

"I don't know of anyone in all of Hi no Kuni that could make you another sword like this one Naruto."

Naruto's shoulders fell,

"However," interjected the smith, "I do know of one man who lives near Wave country who could make one, but it will be up to you to convince him to do so."

Naruto looked up at the smith with a shimmer of hope in his eyes,

"Why do I need to convince him and can you tell me how to find him?"

The man raised a hand to try to placate the obviously excited Naruto,

"The man swore off making swords many years ago after he made a what has now become a legendary sword for someone who became an infamous missing Nin. But before I tell you where he lives, I want you to make a deal with me."

Naruto nodded his head, eagerly agreeing.

"I will not only tell you where the man is located, but I will bring you to him, but in return you have to continue teaching Tenten kenjutsu. I don't remember the last time that I've seen her come back from training as happy as she was last night. You must be a hell of a swordsman to excite her that much."

Naruto's smile faded slightly,

"Sir, I would agree to that but the problem is that I am often gone on missions and I'm not sure how often I would be able to work with her."

The man waived him off,

"Work with her when you can and the next time I go to visit the sword smith I will bring you with me, deal?"

Naruto nodded his head,

"Deal. Thank you very much… umm…"

It had never occurred to Naruto that he still had no idea what Tenten's father's name is.

"The name is Mori, Naruto and you're welcome"

--

Naruto walked back out of the small shop with his nodachi happily slung back over his shoulder. Turning the corner, he saw that the street, which had been almost empty when he first went to the shop, was now bustling with activity as hundreds upon hundreds of tourists made there way into Konoha for the tournament that was schedule to begin in two days. With a sigh he leapt up onto the roof of the nearest building and began running back towards Anbu headquarters so he could get ready before he went back to active status that evening.

At least that was the plan.

"Oi! Naruto!"

Naruto turned to the call to see both of his teammates running towards him from the side. Naruto paused on top of a small clothing store as he waited for them to catch up.

"What's going on?" questioned Naruto.

"Hokage-sama has called for us. Apparently she has a mission that she needs us to go on right away, so she had to pull us off of standby. Do you have your gear with you?"

Naruto nodded and pulled out one of the small scrolls that hung on a chain around his waist.

"Yeah, I always have it with me."

Sasuke nodded in response,

"Good, then lets get to the tower right away and find out what the Hokage wants."

With that all three of them took off at a fast clip across the rooftops. All around them the entire city was bustling with excitement as the chuunin exam finals grew closer, but if you looked closely you could make out large quantities of Konoha shinobi spread out throughout the village preparing various traps and getting evacuation routes ready.

--

"Team San'en reporting in Hokage-sama"

Tsunade turned around from the large map that was still pinned up on the wall of her office to see the three young Anbu waiting patiently behind her.

"Good, I have what should be a relatively easy mission for the three of you."

She turned so they could see the map more easily.

"There was a team comprised of 3 relatively green chuunin who were assigned to border patrol here."

She pointed to the black pin along the side of River Country.

"Yesterday they missed their check in. Its not uncommon for green chuunin to get a little lost or miss a rendezvous by a day or so, but with the attack from sound coming so soon, Jiraiya suspects some foul play. I want the three of you to get there as quick as possible to ascertain the truth of what's going on."

She turned and pointed to a small valley that was clearly marked on the map, very close to where the black pin was located.

"This valley is where they should be waiting if something has happened, so I would recommend that you start your search there. If it is at all possible I would like for you to try to make it back tomorrow so that you are all within the city walls before any attacks occur."

The team all understood the seriousness of the situation as Tsunade continued to explain some more of the details. Although the missing team didn't necessarily mean anything nefarious, the timing was just too perfect. Plus they needed to be back inside the village walls before the exams in two days. That was a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time.

After receiving the finer details of the mission the team was to set out immediately. All three quickly put on their large white cloaks and sealed the masks onto their faces. Nodding to one another the all jumped out of the window and onto the roof below.

"Use the door…" She tried to yell out after them, but they were already gone, bounding from roof to roof towards the east gate.

'Ungrateful brats…'

--

About fifteen miles outside of Konoha, far out of the sight of the village walls Sakura called for the team to stop. Motioning for each of them to activate their masks, she began talking.

"I think that we should have Naruto send ahead a team of Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) to scout for us just in case this is an ambush or something."

Sasuke looked over at Naruto,

"It makes sense, and its not like you lack the chakra to keep them up."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders,

"No problem." He made what was starting to become known as his trademark jutsu, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)" In a small poof of smoke, an identical copy of the team. Without wasting a moment the team of clones took off towards their target. After giving the clones a minute or two head start, the real team took off, following the trail left by the clones.

The team was making quick time through the trees. It was just before nightfall when the team made it to the rendezvous point that the chuunins were supposed to go to if they ran into trouble. Naruto called for the team to stop just outside of the field while they sent the team of clones in ahead of them to check it out.

The clone team walked into the clearing cautiously. It was a wide-open expanse that would be easy for an enemy to ambush them. Not more than fifty feet into the clearing they heard the tell tale sounds of shuriken flying through the air towards the clones.

The clones all were able to dodge the incoming weapons, but they were soon attacked in person by a four heavily armed ninja in all black. As the clones did their best to buy the team some time Naruto signaled to the others.

"Be ready to counter when the clones dispel"

Seeing his teammates ready themselves, Naruto relayed the message to his clones to dispel.

The four enemies were quickly confused when their rather evasive opponents suddenly disappeared in identical puffs of smoke. Within seconds though they knew that their trap had been reversed as they suddenly found themselves disoriented under a strong genjutsu. Two of their numbers were unable to break out of the technique.

They were the first to fall. Sasuke had rushed in at his top speed as soon as he felt the genjutsu take its place over their enemies. He, like his teammates, had opted to go into the fight with their masks activated. It was necessary to take the enemy out as quickly as possible before they had a chance to possibly alert any others to their presence.

With his madly spinning sharingan eye guiding his sword, he made short work of the first ninja who was stumbling about in Sakura's genjutsu. It was out of the corner of his eye that he could see Naruto just behind him dispatching the other ninja. It surprised him to see that Sakura had followed them both into the fray and had quickly engaged the first of the remaining two ninja. Normally she stayed behind and supported the team from a distance, but this time she was up close and personal with her enemy.

Sakura took a deep breath as she jumped back to give her some space between the enemy and herself. They had only exchanged a couple quick blows so far, each looking for a weakness that they could exploit.

Under her mask Sakura smirked slightly as she pulled a vial of a strong neurotoxin that caused hallucinations and off of her belt. Pushing chakra to her hands she crushed the small vial and pulled the liquid into the chakra. Within a second she was back to fighting her opponent.

As she ran in, she purposefully threw an obvious haymaker at the man's head. She almost smiled to herself when he blocked the fist with his arm. Without wasting any of the precious moment that she was within range of the man, she transferred as much of the poison into his bloodstream as she could.

The fight was already over. After the poison had entered his bloodstream it quickly took effect. The toxin started quickly by creating making him see things that he knew weren't there making the victim suspect more genjutsu. Only a few seconds after that the poison began to cause both hemorrhaging and tachycardia, within a minute he was severely bleeding and within another five he would be dead from hypovolemic shock.

Sasuke, who had already taken care of the fourth and final opponent after a short taijutsu match walked up to Sakura as she stood stoically near her fallen opponent.

"That technique is incredible Kikazaru."

Sakura nodded her head,

"I know…"

Naruto created several more clones to go out and search the area for survivors as he began searching the corpses. After a short time he straightened up with something in his hands.

"Guys, we may have a problem here."

His teammates turned to face him as he held up a hand with three Sand hitai-ite in it.

"Why did three ninja from Sand attack us, aren't they supposed to be our allies?"

Sakura looked back down at the corpse lying at her feet. She bent down to check him for any weapons or useful information. After rummaging through several of his pockets she stood back up.

"Yeah, we definitely have a problem."

It was a Sound hitai-ite.

Sasuke swore under his breath,

"So I guess that explains the missing chuunin team then…"

Suddenly Naruto's eyes grew wide as he turned towards the direction one of his clones had left in.

"Guys, we're going to have company real quick. We need to get out of here fast."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him,

"How many teams?"

Naruto shook his head as he made a sign for more Kage Bunshins,

"Its not a team that's coming, it's at least two full battalions of ninja."

Sasuke and Sakura were both getting ready to go as they saw Naruto unseal something from a scroll and start making more hand seals.

"Iwazaru, move it!" Commanded Sasuke rather forcefully, "We need to make it back to Konoha before these guys catch up to us, and once they find this team, they won't stop at anything to make sure that we're stopped."

Naruto nodded,

"I know, but we only have a minute before they get here, so I'm going to make sure we buy a little extra time."

--

"Toshimoto-taicho!" yelled a scout from one of Sand's advance parties.

Toshimoto was the relatively young jounin that had been placed in charge of one of the lead companies of ninja from the second battalion. He had standing orders that if they met any resistance on the way to Konoha, his unit would be the first to engage. The previous day they had been forced to remove a squad of leaf chuunin, but their far superior numbers allowed for a fast and one-sided fight. Only one of his men had been injured in the engagement, but he knew that once the now dead teams check-in was missed the leaf would send another team to check on them.

"What?" He responded rather snappishly to his subordinate.

"There's something in the clearing ahead of us that I think you may want to look at Sir."

Toshimoto sighed,

"What is it, another team from the leaf?"

The chuunin shook his head,

"Not really, at least I don't think it is."

Toshimoto sighed and stood up, motioning for the rest of the company to get up and ready as well.

"So what is it exactly?"

The chuunin almost looked embarrassed by what he was about to say.

"Well Sir, to be honest it's a blonde kid playing shogi with what appears to be a frog…"

--

Several minutes later Toshimoto was standing in a large tree at the far end of the large clearing looking down at what was indeed what looked to be a teenage blonde kid sitting at a small table smoking a pipe and playing shogi against an orange frog.

"Have you checked the area for any traps?" he asked the chuunin standing next to him.

"Yeah, there's nothing that anywhere, just a kid playing shogi."

The jounin looked at the scene in front of him for a couple of seconds before motioning to several of the other ninja.

"Ok, we'll go see what's going on down there. I want you." He pointed at the chuunin who first told him about the kid, "To go make contact with the jounin in charge of the battalion and let him know what's going on. The rest of you keep your eyes open for any foul play. Something isn't right here."

With that the jounin leapt down from the tree and began walking slowly into the field where Naruto was calmly sitting playing a game of shogi. He tensed briefly when he saw Naruto's hand suddenly disappear into a bag at his side, only to relax when he saw him just repacking his pipe and lighting it again. Keeping his eyes wide open looking for any traps or foul play he approach Naruto slowly until he was only ten or so feet away.

"How's it going Sand-nin-san?" Questioned Naruto without ever having looked up from the table as he calmly reached across and moved his rook.

"Umm… Pretty good, how about yourself?"

Naruto shrugged,

"Meh, not bad I suppose."

The jounin stared at the scene in front of him, not entirely sure how to comprehend what was going on.

"Umm… If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

Toshimoto watched as the orange frog thing calmly picked up a pawn and advanced it.

"I'm playing shogi." Was Naruto's rather short reply.

The jounin looked over his shoulder to the group of chuunin standing behind him. All of them looked just as confused as he was. The kid in front of him was obviously a shinobi, judging by the hitai-ite tied securely around his arm, but here he was confronted by nearly twenty heavily armed ninja and not even batting an eye.

"I can see that, but why are you playing against a frog?"

The kid moved another piece before responding,

"Toad"

"Huh?" Was the jounin's intelligent response.

"Gamakichi is a toad, not frog." Finally Naruto looked up from the game and surveyed the group of Sand-nin standing in front of him.

"So what is a large group of Sand-nin heading towards Konoha for?"

Gathering his wits, the jounin responded,

"Well we're going to watch the Kazekage's children fight in the tournament."

Naruto nodded his head sagely,

"Ah, that should be a couple of good show. Did you bring your tickets?"

The jounin was surprised that his story was accepted without any questioning. Something was incredibly off with this whole situation, and that toad set off a small red flag in his mind.

"Umm, no, we were going to buy our tickets when we get there."

"I see," Naruto responded. "But you would be disappointed. The arena sold out of tickets last week and the Hokage does not allow standing room tickets to be sold. You are making a trip for nothing. Perhaps you should turn around and return to the Wind Country."

The sand jounin was getting more confused as this conversation went on. The kid in front of him had gone back to watching the shogi board not even sparing a glance back at the group.

"Umm… I guess I should go tell the guys then. I guess we're going to be pretty disappointed then huh?"

Naruto shrugged,

"If you turn back you'll just be disappointed, but if you go beyond me, you'll wind up just like them." Naruto said while he idly moved another piece on the shogi board.

Just then the breeze picked up slightly and the smell of blood assaulted the jounin's nose. Looking past the kid he could see the four dead bodies of his advance unit lying in various positions on the ground. He had no idea how he and his entire team had missed the obvious corpses. Looking back at the teen, he saw that he was still only paying attention to his game.

"What happened to them?"

Naruto looked up and smiled widely,

"No tickets."

One of the chuunin behind Toshimoto finally spoke,

"Are you like a… crazy person?"

Naruto looked past Toshimoto, still smiling widely,

"I'm quite sure they will say so."

The jounin walked forward slowly extending his hand for a handshake while simultaneously palming a slim hidden knife. Naruto stood up and went to shake his hand.

"Well thanks for your help, but what did you say your name was?"

Naruto, who was now standing only couple feet in front of the jounin smiled. The jounin was reaching in for a handshake and was about to stab him in the side.

"You won't be alive long enough to remember my name…"

The jounin's eye flashed up and met his as he continued,

"Boom"

--

The chuunins who were still up in the trees several hundred feet away suddenly swore as a huge explosion rocked the valley floor. Each one of the ten or so chuunin spread around the perimeter quickly drew their weapons and waited. After a couple of seconds the dust began to clear. Where there had been a peaceful valley there was now only a large crater with twenty some odd bodies littering the ground.

The second in command, who had remained behind leapt into action.

"You, go notify the battalion leader. Everyone else, we need to catch up to the kid who made that clone. If we don't stop them before they get to Konoha the entire attack will be compromised."

Several miles away, the San'en had a good head start when Naruto called out to his teammates.

"They sprung the trap, so their teams are going to be hot on our trails now. We need to make it back as soon as possible. Sasuke, you and Sakura go. I'll slow them down some more before I follow up behind you."

Sakura turned to look at her teammate,

"We're not leaving you behind Naruto."

Naruto brushed her off,

"Konoha comes first Sakura. I'm only going to use guerilla tactics to try to slow them down. I'll be just behind you, I promise."

Sakura looked conflicted when Sasuke suddenly walked forward and started handing Naruto his stacks of explosive notes and trap gear.

"I expect to see you back by the time the invasion starts Naruto."

Naruto nodded solemnly,

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

With that, Sasuke put a hand on Sakura's shoulder and began lead her away,

"Have faith in him Sakura. We'll see him tomorrow."

Sakura stopped and walked back over to Naruto. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small scroll. Biting her thumb, she smeared a little blood on a seal and removed a small blue music box, which she handed to Naruto.

"This is the last present that my brother ever gave me before he died. It means more to me than anything else in this world. I would like it back when you return to Konoha."

A single tear slid down her eye as she turned and left with Sasuke. She knew full well that they would never make it back unless Naruto stayed. Whether or not they wanted to admit it, after running the entire day they were beginning to tire. Naruto had an almost unlimited stamina, so it made sense for him to be the one to stay behind. But that didn't mean she liked it. She knew just as well as her teammates that there was a very real chance Naruto wouldn't make it back.

--

Naruto wasted no time once his team left in making a large quantity of Kage Bunshins.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu" within seconds he was handing out exploding tags and instructions to various groups of clones. Every one of the clones was now wearing his full Anbu uniform.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto went to set up his own traps and wait for the enemy. Once his first clone dispelled itself to let him know where the enemies were located, Naruto jumped into the trees. Running as fast as he could manage in the direction of the enemy he leapt high into the air, well above the canopy of the trees.

"Katon: Faiasutoomu! (Fire Storm)" He expelled a huge undulating stream of fire that lit large swaths of the dry forest floor on fire. Soon thick black smoke and a roaring inferno covered a huge expanse of the forest floor catching an untold number of shinobi inside of the conflagration.

Landing just outside of the burn zone, Naruto grinned grimly as he saw a large quantity of Sand-nin fighting to get out of the flames. The technique he used wasn't necessarily the most deadly in his arsenal, but it did a good job for slowing them down.

Allowing himself a moment of rest after using such a chakra laden technique he stood up and began running back in the way of Konoha. As he was running he began remembering what Jiraiya had taught him.

"Remember Naruto, you, unlike your teammates are best suited to taking on large groups of enemies at the same time. But don't get cocky; a group will still over power you. Hit them hard and fast, and then run like hell. Even you will run out of chakra using these techniques"

Naruto took Jiraiya's words to heart as he took off running. Numerous memories from his one hundred clones flashed through his mind as he ran. They were engaging enemies all over the area. Nearly half of them had already been dispelled, but the enemy was slowing down. Once he received more memories telling him where the enemy was most concentrated he leapt high into the air again. As he rose he could hear countless enemies yell and point to him.

"Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu (Great Dragon Fire)" And spit out three large flaming dragon heads which tore through the air impacting the ground with resounding explosions. Falling back into the trees, Naruto landed rather heavily on the forest floors. Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he made a familiar hand seal,

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu" (Mass Shadow Clone Technique)

This time only about eighty clones took form. Without waiting for instructions all the clones took off back towards the enemy. The real Naruto remained leaning up against a tree for a couple of minutes as he took a few deep breaths and ate a soldier pill. He was burning through chakra quickly.

Deciding he had done enough for now he jumped into the trees and began making his way to Konoha.

--

Nearly ten miles ahead of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura paused for a minute on top of a large rock outcropping to look back. Huge parts of the forest were a raging inferno and thick smoke was pouring into the already darkening sky.

"When he said he was going to slow them down, he wasn't kidding."

Sasuke was in awe of the amount of damage that Naruto had been able to cause by himself. Granted any shinobi worth his salt would be able to make it through those fires relatively unharmed, but it would put precious miles between them and the Sand.

"Come on Sakura, we need to get back to Konoha."

--

Well there's chapter 13. Sorry its been taking so much longer than I'd like to get the chapters finished. This semester has been hell for me. Anyways, I hope you liked it.

Naruto's fire techniques- Naruto has obviously started using a large repertoire of various fire techniques in this chapter. He doesn't normally solely focus on fire techniques, but for wide spread mayhem, nothing works quite as well as a big fire.

Dokumushi actually translates to Poisonous Insect, but it's as close as I could get.

Minamoto means the source or origin. So Minamoto Tenten can be interpreted as "The Source of Heaven."

Next chapter, the chuunin finals and invasion.

Till then,

Mechen Manachewagan


	4. Chapter 4 The San'en's Last Stand

San'en Chapter 4

-----------

The San'en's Last Stand

Naruto crouched next to a tree taking in several deep gasps of breath. Despite his best efforts the Suna army had been slowly gaining on him over the day. Pulling his canteen of water from his belt he took a deep draught and tossed the now empty container aside.

Not far behind him he could hear the first of the soldiers begin making their way through the labyrinth of flames and traps that he and his clones had set.

A large explosion shook the ground, as the nearest team set off a series of explosive notes, hopefully waylaying them long enough for him to pull ahead again. With a groan he pushed himself back into a standing position and began running towards Konoha.

"There he is!" Shouted some random ninja as Naruto darted around a tree. Naruto barely spared the man a glance as he threw a kunai at the man's chest. Not even waiting around to see if his knife hit its mark he continued on his way.

Behind him were miles of burning forests and decimated landscape. Wide spread jutsus and what had amounted to nearly a thousand clones had set up every trap he could conceive of. He new it was futile to try and stop the army completely. Even the Hokage would not be able to win in a standup fight against such outstanding odds.

The ninja he had thrown the kunai at earlier had caught up to him as Naruto was forced to dodge a blade of wind that decimated a tree to his side. Glancing over at the man who was now running along side of him, Naruto could make out the vest of a Suna jounin. Probably fairly green if he was still put into a platoon of chuunin, but a jounin none the less.

With one smooth movement Naruto jumped into the air and pulled his long nodachi out of its sheath and let loose a wide swipe at the man's already bleeding side. The man pulled out a single kunai to block the much larger blade. Using the kunai as a pivot point. Naruto spun around to the jounin's exposed back and hit him hard at the base of the skull. As he hit he could feel the sickening crunches and scrapes of crepitus as the back of the skull was reduced to a gravel like consistency.

Without sparing a glance to watch the man drop, Naruto made a small group of shadow clones and took off towards the ever-approaching gates of Konoha. As he leapt from the top of a large tree onto the far side of large river, Naruto could just make out the dark red sun as it broke its way through the black smoke.

The river marked he was only five miles away from the Village's wall.

--

(Several Hours Earlier)

Sakura and Sasuke ran through the last vestiges of the forest before finally coming to Konoha's great wall. They had run the entire night, only stopping for extremely brief respites, and only if they needed to replenish their water or take a soldier pill.

As they ran to the gates they heard an unnamed chuunin on the watchtower yell.

"Open the gates!"

The large wooden gates groaned loudly as they were slowly opened. Sasuke and Sakura tore through the opening as if the hounds of hell were biting at their heels. Without stopped Sasuke yelled out to the gate's guard.

"Close the gates and seal them!"

It was just nearing four in the morning when they were within sight of the Hokage's tower. Wordlessly the both simultaneously took to the roofs and jumped straight through the Hokage's closed window.

Tsunade jumped to her feet ready to fight as a four masked Anbu burst in through the door to see what the commotion was about. Tsunade looked to the floor to see both Sasuke and Sakura resting on their hands and knees gasping for air. The four Anbu jumped from the window to go check outside to make sure there was no one following the obviously distressed duo.

Tsunade looked back down at the pair of exhausted Anbu who were still lying on the floor of her office breathing heavily.

"Mizaru, Kikazaru. Where is your teammate? Where is Iwazaru?"

--

Elsewhere in Konoha a different group was going over contingency plans for the rapidly approaching invasion.

"Kabuto. What is the status of the Suna army? Have they finished preparing the summoning circle yet?"

The silver haired youth, Kabuto, was kneeling in front of his master.

"I'm sorry to say that they have not Orochimaru-sama. It appears that they have not yet arrived at the village walls."

If Orochimaru was surprised it didn't show on his face.

"Worthless idiots… Did they not depart from Suna in time?"

Kabuto shook his head,

"According to the message that I received from Baki a little while ago, the army ran into a team of three Anbu that had been sent to check on the team of chuunin that missed their rendezvous."

Orochimaru sneered,

"Did the fools not expect the Hokage to possibly check on a missing team?"

Kabuto again replied in the negative,

"Well apparently the Anbu was able to reverse the trap and killed the vast majority of he team that was present. By the time the army as a whole was deployed after them, the team had split up. Two went ahead into Konoha while the other stayed behind to slow down the army."

Orochimaru stood up and began making his way towards the door,

"So some random Anbu was able to fight them off long enough to slow them down before he went down in some self sacrificing blaze of glory. How Poetic." He Sneered.

Orochimaru was almost through the door when he heard Kabuto respond,

"Apparently the Anbu is still alive and still fighting."

Orochimaru stopped as Kabuto continued,

"Apparently the Suna army has taken to calling him the Mafuu (A storm sent by the devil) or just Ikkitousen (A lone rider with the strength to withstand a thousand). Apparently the single Anbu has harried the entire army since dusk yesterday."

Orochimaru stood in the door.

"What are the damages?"

Kabuto shrugged,

"We won't know for certain until they reach the wall and have time to count, but right now it appears almost ten percent of the army was either killed or is too injured to fight."

Orochimaru turned to face his insurgent,

"What do you know of this unidentified Anbu?"

Kabuto pulled out a copy of the drawing he had received from Baki.

"We know virtually nothing about him. Only a few of the ninja survived a direct encounter with him, but assuming the real Anbu looks the same as the shadow clones that he has been using to great effect, his mask looks like this and he has Iwazaru written on his cloak."

Orochimaru took the drawing that showed an almost comical monkey that was covering his mouth.

"Iwazaru…" He handed the note back to his subordinate, "Find out what you can about this Anbu. I want him captured, preferably alive, but dead is just as good."

With that Orochimaru walked out of the room and began down the hallway,

"And bring me Kimmimaro!"

--

Tsunade sat at her desk in front of the now standing Anbu.

"So there is an entire army of Suna shinobi that are currently coming straight towards Konoha?"

Sakura and Sasuke, who had long since shed their heavy cloaks and masks nodded in agreement.

We only saw the small team of ninja that were left to ambush whoever got sent to check on the border patrol, but there was definitely an entire army out there."

Tsunade rubbed her temples. They had set up what she believed to be a perfect defense to stop the invasion from the sound, but this changed the battle entirely.

"Do you have any idea on the number of shinobi that Suna is sending?"

Sakura slumped down in a chair.

"Naruto estimated around two full battalions, which would put their numbers somewhere around fifteen hundred to two thousand shinobi."

Tsunade swore rather loudly.

"That's well over two thirds of their entire ninja force. They almost emptied Suna for this battle."

Sasuke was the one to finally voice the concern that had been nagging Sakura for the past day.

"Hokage-sama… Can we win this war?"

Tsunade sighed,

"Luckily enough very few foreign ninja are actually within the village proper. All foreign teams are being housed outside of the city wall, so we can easily bar them from entering. But the ninja that are to compete in the exams will have to be allowed in. Hopefully Naruto has stalled them long enough that they won't have time to rest before they attack."

Tsunade walked over to the large broken window and peered out over the city. On the horizon she could see a thick haze where Naruto's fires had lit the forests ablaze.

"We can still win this, but the village wall cannot be breached."

She turned around to face the two Anbu.

"If we can keep them on the other side of the wall then we can keep them at bay. Anbu will be stationed along the wall along with the vast majority of the chuunin. Jounin will be charged primarily with clearing the village before proceeding to the gates. With any luck they will break on our walls like so many armies have before them."

Tsunade stood in front of the large map the covered a large portion of the wall, staring at the various markers that were scattered around fire country.

"I want the two of you to take up positions at the chuunin exams this afternoon. I have reason to expect that Subaka no Gaara was sent to wreak havoc at the beginning of the invasion."

Tsunade turned back towards the pair of Anbu,

"Gaara is believed to host the Ichibi no Shukaku. If Suna is truly on Sound's side, then Orochimaru won't hesitate to have him release his demon inside the city walls, which could be catastrophic. When the invasion starts, I want the two of you to engage him immediately and remove the threat."

Sakura nodded before looking back in the direction that she had come from.

"Will Naruto be joining us?"

Tsunade sat down behind her desk and sighed heavily.

"Right now assume he will be absent. If he makes it back, I will assign him to the team."

Surprisingly it was Sasuke who spoke,

"He'll be there. He promised Sakura that he would return that music box, and he never goes back on his word."

Sakura nodded in agreement. Tsunade smiled, despite everything that had happened, they still had absolute confidence in their teammate.

"Then go and rest. As soon as I hear from Naruto I will let you know."

The pair nodded and reapplied their heavy white cloaks and masks and made their way out of the room. Tsunade pressed a button on her desk and called to one of her secretaries.

"Call for Jiraiya and Sarutobi to come to my office."

--

Naruto was on his last leg. Despite being so close to the village's walls, the Suna-nins were still catching up. In fact they seemed more desperate to stop him than ever. Behind him he could sense at least three shinobi approaching rapidly. Without the energy or time necessary to form more kage bunshins (Shadow clones) he had been forced to fight many of them by himself. But now it was just a dead sprint to the finish. He knew the Suna ninja would not be willing to get within range of any of the archers or ballista located along the outer walls of the village.

With one final push he broke through the forest and came out on the long wide clearing that was made in front of the great wall. Applying his last vestiges of chakra to his legs he leapt high up over the wall. Not even bothering to try to catch himself he crashed to the ground on the other side of the wall. With great effort he pushed himself to his feet and began a slow arduous trudge towards the village proper, but once he reached a wooded enclosure that bordered a tall grassy expanse he saw the world fade into darkness, and the ground rushed up to embrace him.

After countless miles of screams, yells, and loud concussive explosions, the world turned quiet around the lone unconscious Anbu. His rest was well earned.

--

As Jiraiya and Sarutobi took over the arrangements for the cities defenses, Tsunade made her way to the large stadium that would house the chuunin exam finals. It was imperative that they continue on with the exams. No longer was it to necessarily fool the enemy, but more as a show of strength. It was as if she was saying, 'I know that you are hear, but you will not become a hindrance to my village'.

Hopefully she wasn't lying.

She made her way at a slow walking pace across the village. A team of Anbu watched over her carefully from the rooftops. Tradition dictated that inside the 'Kage's Box', at the final chuunin exams, that there were to be only one guard to act as a message runner. Of course any Kage had a multitude of shinobi waiting nearby in case something did happen.

The exams were scheduled to commence at exactly noon, but here in the large fair grounds that surrounded the large arena, the shows were already beginning. Hundreds if not thousands of civilians were excitedly hocking their wares and playing games. Children ran around laughing chasing one another to and fro.

It was strange to think that while they were celebrating, all the shinobi of Konoha were currently being mobilized to defend the city.

As she rounded the corner she found a pair of white clad Anbu standing there waiting.

"Hokage-sama" They said in perfect unison as they bowed.

Tsunade inclined her head slightly.

"I assume you're here to inquire about your teammate?"

Both Anbu nodded simultaneously.

"The status has not changed. Please go to your stations and follow your orders. If anything occurs I will send a messenger."

The two young Anbu nodded and disappeared in a small swirl of smoke and leaves.

'_Naruto… Where the hell are you?' _

Tsunade sighed deeply and placed a smile back on her face before going back to face more of the civilians.

--

Sasuke and Sakura were on the top most tiers of the large grand arena that was being used to hold that final portion of the chuunin exams. With just over an hour until the exams were set to kick off, large swarms of people were beginning to flock into the arena.

It was always kind of odd that civilians actually make up the majority of the people present at a ninja examination, but they seemed to enjoy it more than the ninja did.

"The civilians have no idea what they are actually seeing at these exams do they?"

Sasuke said quietly to his pink haired teammate.

"They come to watch a show, a spectacle of amusement, but the truth of the matter is that they are cheering for us to kill. Almost anywhere else, this would be considered barbaric, but somehow here it's acceptable."

Sakura shrugged,

"They've never actually seen a real fight. In all honesty probably none of the genin that are in the exam have ever truly had to fight for their lives. I suppose that's why they're all so desperate to prove themselves."

Time passed slowly for the two young teens. The stands had slowly filled to capacity and all the genin in the exams were all beginning to appear in their waiting box. On the far side of the arena they could see Tsunade making her way into the Kage's box and greet the Kazekage. Finally only a short time before the fights were scheduled to begin they finally saw their target appear.

The announcer was saying something about the exams, but it was difficult to make out over the tumultuous cheers of the crowd. After several moments they saw two names flash onto a large screen

'Nara Shikamaru vs. Subaka no Temari'

Sakura was actually fairly surprised,

"That lazy guy actually managed to make it all the way to the finals of the chuunin exams?"

Sasuke shrugged,

"He's smart, but don't get your hopes up for an interesting fight. He'll probably just run her through a ridiculous trap."

True to Sasuke's word, Shikamaru immediately began dodging the kunoichi's furious wind based attacks. He would occasionally send out his shadow in rather half-hearted attempts to capture her, but nothing ever came from his attempts.

The fight continued to go downhill for the shadow user for several more minutes. Shikamaru had been reduced to hiding in the small trees along one of the arena walls as Temari continued to reduced the trees to nothing but wood chips.

"He's drawing her out." Sasuke muttered, "He knows that as long as he remains in the open that she will maintain the upper hand. She acknowledges that if she gets too close to the shadows created by those trees that Shikamaru wouldn't hesitate to trap her. Which means that she is forced to try to lure him out, or force find another way to force Shikamaru's hand."

Finally after a couple of minutes of sending wave after wave of wind jutsus at the trees, Temari had to stop and rest. Just a second after she rested her fan on the ground Shikamaru leapt into action. Shikamaru leapt down from the branches that he had been hiding in and sent his shadow streaking towards Temari from her left side.

Temari immediately went to work evading the elongating shadow as she leapt to her right trying to put as much distance between her and the shadow as she could. As she jumped she flicked her large fan all the way open and yelled,

"Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu"

Large blades of wind materialized out of nothingness and began their deadly assault on Shikamaru. Shikamaru quickly retracted his shadow, but didn't make any attempt to dodge the oncoming attack.

Temari smirked thinking that the lazy boy had finally just given up. Her smirk vanished though when her blades passed right through Shikamaru's incorporeal form and slice deep into the wall behind him.

A tell tale whistling in the wind brought Temari's attention to a series of shuriken and kunai that were flying towards her. Holding onto her fan tightly she rolled forward, letting the three shuriken and two kunai land in the ground behind her. As she looked back up she could see Shikamaru standing directly in front of her, only about thirty feet away.

"Checkmate…" muttered the lazy genin.

Temari just barely made out a slight sizzling noise behind her, one that normally signified the use of an explosive note. Before she could manage to jump away the sizzling stopped.

Temari cringed as she subconsciously braced for the explosion, which never came. Instead there was a blinding white light flashed behind her, blinding anyone who was watching the fight for a moment.

When the light cleared, Temari heard,

"Kagemane no jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)… Success"

With that Temari could feel the control of her body wrenched from her as was forced to walk towards the Konoha genin.

"You used a flash note to extend my shadow into your range…"

Shikamaru shrugged,

"I knew you wouldn't let my shadow get close to you, so the next best option is to bring your shadow close to mine."

Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the clouds that were lazily floating above his head,

"I'm at an impasse here Temari. You see if I beat you I will have to continue fighting. On the other hand, if I let you win, I will have to put up with an irate teammate for the next couple of weeks. On top of that, I can only sustain this technique for another minute at most, so I need to make my decision quickly, which is troublesome in and of itself…"

Temari couldn't believe what she was hearing. This genin had her completely at his mercy, and he was contemplating giving up. After a moment she saw Shikamaru begin walking towards her until they were less than a foot away. Leaning in slightly Shikamaru placed his forehead against Temari's and sighed.

"As troublesome as this may seem for both of us, it's the best option I can come up with…"

With that he leaned back as far as he could forcing Temari to bend backwards as well. When he reached his limit of flexibility he threw his body forwards with as much force as he could muster.

Sasuke's mouth fell open at the sight on the field far below him, as Shikamaru's and Temari's foreheads crashed hard against each other, sending both parties crashing to the ground in a heap.

Apparently the proctor was rather surprised as well, as it took him several seconds to make the announcement.

"Since neither contestant is capable of continuing, this match is a draw. Neither competitor will move onto the next round."

The crowd all seemed rather surprised at the outcome of the match. Somewhere in the crowd Ino looked over towards Chouji and muttered,

"Well at least that lazy bum didn't just forfeit or something…"

A pair of medics quickly made their way onto to the field, and after just a second of wafting smelling salts below the Suna-nins nose regained consciousness.

Sasuke and Sakura cringed. Temari woke and instantly began unleashing a very vocal dislike to how the fight had ended.

After the pair had vacated the field they saw a boy in a green jump suit and orange leg warmers rush towards the center of the field.

"That must be Rock Lee, Maito Gai's prized student."

Sakura looked down at the kid,

"He doesn't really look like anything that special if you ask me."

Sasuke shrugged,

"To be completely honest, he's probably one of the most talented taijutsu users in the village. Although as it stands he only really knows Goken (Iron Fist), but given a couple of years he will be an incredible fighter."

Sakura nodded in understanding as she continued to watch the scene down on the field. Only seconds after Lee entered the field, his opponent appeared in a swirl of sand.

"That's our target."

Sasuke nodded as he activated his mask to watch the pair closely.

"If intelligence is correct, they expect the attack to begin sometime during this match. The moment something starts, we will move in and take the objective."

--

Lee was standing straight backed, one arm tucked behind his back, the other extended out from his side, palm open and elbow slightly bent. It was a textbook perfect Goken (iron fist) stance. Directly across from him Gaara stared at him rather impassively as he mumbled something under his breath to himself.

"Gaara-san!" Lee called out to him from the other side of the arena. "I have heard that you are a great ninja. However, Gai-sensei has already given me full leave of all of my skill. I hope that we have a truly youthful fight!"

Lee quickly gave Gaara a thumbs up and flashed him a bright smile.

Up in above the stands Sakura turned towards her teammate.

"What does he mean by that? The given full leave?"

Sasuke responded without ever taking his keen eyes off the fight below.

"It means that he doesn't intend to lose this fight."

Sakura looked back down at the field far below them.

"Do you really thing Lee has a chance. I took a look at his file earlier today. To be honest it's nothing special. He has the lowest marks I've ever seen in ninjutsu or genjutsu, and his taijutsu skills were just barely above the academy standards."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know much about his academy scores. But I met Lee briefly while learning from Gai was teaching me, and I can honestly say that if any genin was capable of beating Gaara, it would be him and only him."

--

Elsewhere in the stands Tsunade was idly chatting with the Kazekage in the Kage's box. Behind her was a pair of the standard bodyguards. Tradition allowed for two bodyguards per kage.

"It's a shame that you are about to lose such a promising young genin Hokage-dono."

Commented the masked Kazekage, sitting only a few feet away in a rather ornate high backed chair.

Tsunade laughed,

"Kazekage, I feel that I must ask. Why do other nations always seem insistent that our shinobi are weak? I know that Gaara is flouted as never having lost a fight, but that does not make him invincible. I can guarantee that before this day is out, your son will of met his match."

The Kazekage sneered,

"No one has ever been able to get past Gaara's defenses and I highly doubt that the first to do so will be some no name genin."

Tsunade shrugged,

"What's in a name anyways? In the end all of us will be forgotten. No one is truly immortal."

The Kazekage seemed to bristle slightly at the comment but remained quiet.

"We shall see Hokage, but I would not bet that any one of your genin will be able to lay a finger on Gaara."

Tsunade nodded her head,

"Maybe…"

--

Down on the arena floor Genma signaled for the fight to begin. Gaara was the first to move, but he only moved so far as to cross his arms across his chest and wait for Lee to make the first move.

"YOSH!" Lee yelled with reckless enthusiasm. He rushed forward in a green blur yelled,

"Konoha Senpuu! (Leaf Whirlwind)"

In a quick blur of movement Lee had dropped into a low stance and made to kick Gaara's legs out from under him. Unfortunately the kick never connected as sand flew from Gaara's large gourd and blocked Lee's powerful kick. The sand continued forward to try and grasp the green genin, but Lee was already moving onto trying other various taijutsu techniques as he tried valiantly to pierce Gaara's sand.

Finally after several dozen failed attempts Lee leapt back as Gaara's sand made to pursue him until he was well on the other side of the arena. Finally the sand ended its relentless assault and slowly fell to the ground, making its way back into his large gourd.

"Is that all you can offer?" Gaara inquired quietly as he stared stoically at Lee.

"Your defense is truly the epitome of the springtime of youth. Now I can finally test my own flames of youth!"

Lee knelt down and lowered his bright orange leg warmers, revealing a pair of large leg weights that both had the words _guts_ written on them.

Up above the stands Sakura looked over towards her teammate.

"He uses leg weights? Isn't that a little bit archaic?"

Sasuke shrugged,

"Since the advent of chakra, they have kind of fallen by the wayside. But among true taijutsu specialists they are still common. It allows us to conditions our muscles to be stronger and harder than usual. Gai and, by association, Lee however have taken weights to a whole new level."

Sakura looked confused,

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke actually chuckled a little,

"Trust me, just watch. After you see what Lee is capable of, your opinion of him may change."

Down in the arena however Gaara seemed just as nonplussed as Sakura and countless other. Lee however continued to calmly remove the straps from his weights. Once the last clasp was undone, he picked up both of them and held them out in front of him. With a quick flash of his bright white smile, the spun hard in a circle and threw both sets of weights towards Gaara.

Gaara frowned slightly at the obvious attack as his sand rose up to stop the weights. He was shocked when the weights passed through his initial defense, like an arrow through a sheet of paper, and continued rocketing straight towards him. As more sand continued to rise and block the path of the dense weights. As they continued careening towards him, Gaara was finally forced to jump out of the way as they sailed past him, piercing deep into the concrete walls at the base of the arena.

Gaara slowly turned back to glare at his opponent, just in time to see him vanish from his sight. Suddenly on his guard, Gaara pulled as much sand back to him as he could. Within seconds he heard a resounding impact as something smashed into the shielding sand with the impact of a cannon ball. Whirling around as quickly as his earth-laden body allowed for, he caught just a brief glimpse of green before it disappeared from his sight again.

Up in the stands, Sakura's mouth was opened wide behind her mask.

"He's moving as fast as you and Naruto…" she muttered in a shocked tone.

Sasuke chuckled, despite being ranked considerably higher than the green clad genin; it was true that his speed was on par with the speed that both he and Naruto were accustomed to using.

"Lee is unable to mold chakra outside of his body at all, and he cannot control the flow of chakra within his own body. So instead he focuses on mastering his taijutsu, his insane dedication to his art as made him an extremely effective ninja, despite using any of the normally flaunted ninjutsu techniques."

Sakura was puzzled as she watched Lee rocket around the arena floor. Her eyes were used to tracking her teammates movements, but she had always assumed they were the only young ninja capable of those speeds.

"He's still at an extreme disadvantage if he cannot mold his chakra though."

Sasuke shrugged,

"I had always assumed that as well, however that is not the case. In fact what most would consider a great weakness is probably his greatest strength. His body has a large quantity of chakra that it is constantly flowing through his bone, muscle, and nervous system inundating them chakra."

Sakura was surprised at that revelation.

"That kind of chakra flow would increase his stamina exponentially, not to mention making him extremely resistant to many chakra based techniques that would effect muscles or his nervous system."

Sasuke nodded, turning his attention back to the fight still raging below in the arena,

"Its true, Lee is as tough as nails. His condition is more close to a bloodline limit than it is a deficiency."

Sakura nodded her head in agreement at Sasuke's observation of Lee. Her attention snapped back to the arena when she saw Gaara begin his counter attack.

--

Outside the arena, groups of genin were being organized to begin sweeps of the areas inside the village's walls that had yet to be cleared of any civilians. The chuunins Iruka and Mizuki, they had a small group of around thirty of their prior students broken into teams to begin a systematic sweep of their assigned quadrants. Mizuki was handing out various maps and a special scroll to the various teams. Iruka was giving the briefing.

"As we've established, to maintain secrecy no civilians were made aware of the imminent invasion. Any civilians living in the residential areas have been evacuated, leaving only the forests, parks, and training fields. You will be put into teams of two to do sweeps of the marked areas"

He motioned towards the maps that Mizuki was currently distributing.

"There have not been any reported breeches in the cities defense so we don't expect any enemy ninja to be within the city walls, however as a precaution there are several jounin led chuunin teams on standby. If you come across any teams, throw down the red scroll and flee the scene, do not attempt to engage the enemy."

All the students were busy inspecting the small red scrolls that they had been handed. It was a rather unique beacon scroll that was developed by Jiraiya of the Sannin during the second shinobi war. A rather curious scroll, it served no purpose in the middle of a heated battle, but in reconnaissance or on sensitive missions it was highly useful. By activating the scroll, it would automatically make a dot appear on the master map, which corresponded with the location of the scroll. In this case, the master map was located with the jounin overseeing operations in this quadrant.

Once all the scrolls and maps were delivered, Iruka began calling off the various teams to the large group of genin. Amidst the sea of genin stood a rather tense girl with her hair up in a pair of buns.

Tenten grumbled under her breath as she searched the sea of genin for a familiar face since the rest of her team was currently participating in the chuunin exams. As she looked around, she recognized a blonde girl and rather chubby kid sitting together.

"You guys are part of the newest genin class right?"

The blonde haired girl looked in her direction as Tenten was making her way towards her and her teammate.

"Yeah, why?" Responded the longhaired girl with a confused look on her face.

Tenten smiled and extended a hand in greeting.

"My name is Tenten. I have a friend in your class who I was hoping to find here since I don't see anyone from my class."

The slightly younger girl shook her hand and smiled tentatively in return. The anxiety from the upcoming battle was grating on everyone's nerves to some degree.

"I'm Ino and this guy here is my teammate Chouji. Most of our graduating class is here besides Shikamaru and Shino, they both made it to the finals. Who exactly are you looking for?"

"His name is Naruto, about my height, blonde hair, blue eyes, carries a nodachi. Do you know him?"

Ino nodded her head.

"Yeah, but I haven't seem him or his teammates in quite a while. In fact nobody has. I stopped by his teammate's house the other day to talk, but her grandmother said she was out on a mission."

Tenten frowned,

"But I thought all the missions had been withdrawn due to the invasion?"

Chouji shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever it is now isn't the time to worry over it. Iruka-sensei is calling out the teams, so we need to listen."

Tenten wanted to find out more about her friend and sparring partner, but Chouji was right.

"Team eight will be made of Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji. You two will be sweeping sectors seven through nine."

Ino and Chouji said a quick goodbye before they joined the throngs of genin pairs making their way towards their designated areas.

"Team nine will be Minamoto Tenten and Ukiyo Fusei, you will have sectors ten through twelve. That's on the outer borders near the walls, so keep your eyes and ears open."

Tenten scanned the crowd and met the eyes of a teen that looked to be a year or two older than herself. The boy had a shorter; almost crew cut hair with a short ponytail in the back. Judging by his two small kodachi strapped to either side of his legs, he was a short-range fighter. Sending him the briefest of nods, the pair began running towards the outer edges of the village to begin their sweeps.

As they ran side by side down the road, Fusei began talking.

"Minamoto Tenten right?"

Tenten nodded her head as she leapt over a rock that jutted out from the side of the path.

"I'm Ukiyo Fusei. Just in case we run into any kind of trouble up ahead, what kind of techniques do you use?"

Tenten glanced at her interim teammate that was keeping pace along side of her.

"Primarily I'm a mid to long range weapons specialist, but I can hold my own up close with a katana if need be. I'm guessing you're primarily a up close and personal fighter."

Fusei nodded his head seriously.

"Yeah, I rely on speed to overcome my weapons lack of weight and reach. If we get into a tight spot, I'll engage the enemy, you support from a distance ok?"

Tenten frowned; it was common male chivalry or male chauvinism depending on your point of view. Normally she would argue a little that she could just as easily take point, but in this case it did make sense.

"Ok, but remember to drop your beacon scroll if anything occurs."

Fusei nodded and changed course when the path split, making his way to the outer corner of the tenth sector. All three of their sectors were running along the walls perimeter and were made of either open or wooded training sites for the numerous genin teams. It took several minutes of running to enter the first of the three sectors.

Upon reaching the starting point, Fusei stopped and motioned for Tenten.

"Ok, I'll take point, you stay concealed and follow behind to the best of your ability. That way if anything happens, you can cover me while I drop the scroll and high tail it out of there. No matter who shows up, stay hidden unless I give an all clear sign and call you down."

Tenten nodded and adjusted one of the scrolls on her belt.

"I can handle that just fine. I'm teamed with a Hyuuga and even he sometimes has a hard time locating me."

Fusei grinned and jumped up into the canopy, beginning a wide zigzagging pattern across the wooded landscape. Tenten waited for several seconds before jumping into a nearby tree and followed her teammate at a distance.

It was slow going, as each assigned sector was nearly two square miles that had to be cleared, but slowly they were making headway. They had found two younger couples out collecting wild flowers together, but besides that their sectors had been utterly devoid of any other people.

After around and hour of continuing their sweeps, they finally reached the twelfth sector. Tenten watched from a distance as Fusei dropped to the ground near a small clearing along the borders of the wall. Scanning the tall grasses closely for any threats he began making is way through the veritable labyrinth of grasses. Near the far side of the expanse something caught his attention as he pause and quickly drew his pair of kodachi. He was making way towards something just beyond the edge of the grasses.

Tenten swore under her breath at her teammate. The tall grass blocked her view of whatever her teammate was going towards, she would have to move positions to get a better view of where he was heading. Standing up slowly, she jumped onto another tree that bordered the grass-covered field. After a couple of moves, she could make out something on the ground, but was still a little too far away to really make out whatever it was. She contemplated moving forward, when she saw Fusei suddenly turn around and bring his kodachi into a readied position.

Tenten immediately drew three kunai in each hand and prepared to throw at whatever target presented itself. Her grip on the knives relaxed along with her teammates as they saw Mizuki walk out onto the field. From her position, she could just make out what her teammate was saying.

"What's that status on your sweeps Fusei?"

Fusei dropped out of his stance completely now, but still kept a close eye on Mizuki while he approached.

"This is the last sector, once cleared we were going to head back to the rendezvous point to receive further orders."

Mizuki nodded his head,

"Good, call Tenten out from wherever she's hiding. You two need to head there as soon as possible."

Fusei let a confused frown flash across his face before he answered.

"We haven't completed our sweeps yet sir. There could still be civilians in the area."

Mizuki waved the genins concerns off.

"Several of the teams have gone missing. We have reason believe that there is an insurgent taking them out since they've hit several within this quadrant."

Fusei stared closely at his sensei. Something seemed wrong with this situation. Even if what he was saying was true, something didn't make sense. If the insurgent wanted to cause problems, why take out genin that were searching for meandering civilians. He was about to comment when Mizuki started yelling at him.

"Look you moron! Call down your teammate from wherever she's hiding and get her down here."

Fusei stared at his past sensei as he slowly pulled his kodachi back into a well-practiced stance.

"No, calling down a support member in possible ambush situations doesn't make any sense, even if we are just making a tactical retreat."

Mizuki eyes narrowed for a brief second before he growled through clench teeth.

"Call. Her. Out."

Fusei looked closely at Mizuki's clothing.

"Sir, you have blood on your sleeves, are you injured?"

Didn't answer, he just slowly palmed one of kunai that he had within his leg holster. Fusei didn't miss a beat as he quickly jumped back and fumbled to open the small red scroll. Unfortunately Mizuki, being a chuunin, was ready for the attempt and managed to make him drop the scroll as he threw a brace of kunai towards Fusei.

Tenten swore and quickly withdrew her own scroll and activated it. If Mizuki was the insurgent that was attacking teams, there was no telling how many genin had simply listened to their past sensei and broken protocol. Judging by the blood on Mizuki's sleeves, he had killed at least one group already.

Once the scroll was activated, Tenten began peppering the field with rapid, highly accurate, weapons, attempting to throw their assailant off balance. Unfortunately it had only a small affect on Mizuki, who skillfully danced around the dangerous metal that rained down about him.

Mizuki and Fusei clashed several times on the field. It was clear that in hand to hand combat, Fusei had a little more skill, but Mizuki was far more experienced and was able to parry any attack that Fusei threw his way. Tenten, despite her best efforts, simple couldn't land any hit on him. At most she had nicked him a few times.

After receiving a shallow cut on his forearm from Fusei, Mizuki jumped back.

"You damn brats are causing me more problems. Why don't you just make this easy and die already…"

He jumped back once more as Fusei attempted to close the distance between them. As Fusei got close, he twirled tightly before lashing out, using the radial acceleration to add more force to his blows. The first sword bit deeply into on of Mizuki's kunai while the second blade darted around his defense and bit deep into his side.

Fusei let out a small whoop of joy as the hit landed. His joy quickly ended as Mizuki disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only a piece of a log in his wake. Fusei tried to turn, but Mizuki was faster as his kunai plunged deep into Fusei's upper arm, cracking his humorous.

Fusei jumped back and he let out a small yell of pain. His arm was bleeding profusely and hanging relatively uselessly at his side.

Mizuki took the moment to take a large fuma shuriken off of his back and hurl it Fusei. Fusei managed to block the large shuriken, but the force of the impact against his sword knocked him off his feet, and the shuriken impacted heavily on his chest, leaving him spread prostrate on the grass.

Tenten knew that if she didn't act now, her teammate would die.

Tenten leapt to the ground only thirty feet from Fusei and Mizuki. In one fluid movement she drew two scrolls and spread a small drop of blood along the seals yelling

"Soshoryu no jutsu" (Twin Rising Dragons) A huge plume of smoke erupted, engulfing the vast portion of the field. Mizuki shielded his face from the dust, but recovered just in time to see two thin dragons of smoke take to the skies forming a double helix.

Tenten suddenly appeared in the middle of the double helix and began hurling nearly every weapon imaginable at Mizuki. Mizuki was force to dodge and parry, but evaded the large majority of the attack taking only a few minor hits in the process.

Once the onslaught was finished, Mizuki started running towards Tenten, intending to remove her from the fight as well. Tenten just grinned before yanking hard on invisible strings.

Mizuki's eyes widened in surprises as numerous weapons flew from their resting place, careening towards him like missiles. If not for a carefully timed replacement, he would have been impaled several dozen times.

Tenten grimaced, when for the second time in her life, her best attack was rendered useless. She slowly reached onto her back and drew her new katana, sending out a silent thank you to her father for making her take those lessons from Naruto.

Mizuki grinned like a madman and withdrew a sword of his own from a seal on his wrist.

"This sword was given to me by Orochimaru-sama himself. Do you honestly think that a lowly kunoichi like yourself stands any chance of defeating me?"

Tenten grimaced, as a determined looked settled on her face. She drew the blade to her side and bent her knees, distributing her weight evenly, assuming the stance that Naruto had slowly but surely beaten into her.

'If I can just make it a few more minutes, help will arrive and Fusei and I will make it out of here ok.'

--

Lee was starting to breath a little heavily as Gaara stood rock solid in the center of the great arena. Even without his monstrous weights on his legs he was unable to bypass the wall of sand. Gaara however appeared to enjoy the fight more the longer it continued. For a while he had been unable to predict where Lee was coming from, but his sand had adapted quickly and began sending up thicker shields and whip like tendrils to try and capture him.

"I never wanted to use this on you Gaara-san, but you have left me no other options."

Gone was the normally cheerful demeanor and bright smiles, they had been replaced by a serious contemplative face.

"I'm sorry Gai-sensei, but I must use it…"

He muttered to himself. As he stood up from his readied position.

"This is the only original technique that I possess Gaara, I had planned on using it on my rival, but you have left me no choice."

Gaara smiled wickedly as he drew all of his sand back towards him, creating a sphere of dense sand.

Lee slowed his breathing for a couple of seconds and centered himself before he formed a single ram seal in front of him.

"Kaimon… kai." (Gate of Opening release) Veins around his face bulged out as the blood flow throughout his body began to rage, saturating his muscles with oxygen.

"Kyumon… kai. Seimon… kai." (Gate of healing, gate of life) The ground beneath him began to tremble and the various small wounds that had littered his body began to steam as chakra filled them and accelerated the normal healing process. His face began to show signs of the strain, as muscles grew tense.

"Tomon… Kai!" (Gate of Limit) He yelled through his grit teeth. Chakra exploded from his body with a crushing concussion. Lee slowly pushed his body into the starting form of the Goken (Iron Fist). His skin had transformed to a deep red-brown as chakra made his skin leather hard. As he closed his fist tightly he yelled out.

"Keimon… KAI!" (Gate of View) Another concussion and a cracking noise washed over the crowd as the chakra being given off by Lee caused the air to expand rapidly, producing a sound similar to a thunderclap.

Gaara actually looked nervous as the green clad boy began to glow a greenish color as he chakra began to leak around him forming an iron strong barrier.

"This is it Gaara! Ninpo: Kyojin Chikara" (Ninja technique: Titan's Might)

In a blur of movement that even most of the Anbu and jounin had a difficult time tracking, Lee shot forward and collided directly into the shield of sand, blasting it all back leaving Gaara relatively defenseless.

Gaara was dumbfounded as he helplessly tried to call the rest of his sand back to him as quickly as possible, but unfortunately Lee was much faster. He rushed forward and swept Gaara's legs out from under him. The sound of a wet cracking echoed as his foot connected with Gaara's leg. Gaara was flipped onto his face, but before he could reach the ground he heard Lee say.

"From there you can get an excellent view of my foot."

Lee's foot crashed hard into Gaara's face, sending him soaring high into the air above the arena. With acrobatic grace, Lee took off into the air as well; Gaara's sand still trying hopelessly to catch up to its master. Lee apparently though had no intention of letting the sand reach him as he continually kicked Gaara around from one side of the arena to the other like some sort of bastardized ping pong game.

Up in the stands Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. The technique that Lee had just used gave him what appeared to be Tsunade-sama's ridiculous strength, with speed faster than even what she had ever seen Sasuke fight with.

"That technique is incredible. Every kick moves so fast that it sounds like thunder when it connects."

Sasuke nodded,

"Lee is the youngest shinobi in history to every create his own technique using the eight celestial gates. Most people them in two stages since using too many at the same time can cause irreparable damage to the muscular system."

Sakura appeared to have an epiphany as she looked back to her teammate.

"But because of how his body circulates his chakra, he can withstand much greater stresses."

Sasuke nodded,

"Exactly, Lee is the perfect person to use these techniques."

In the arena, Lee suddenly kicked Gaara high into the sky, well above the maximum height of the arena walls. Jumping up to meet him, he wrapped the bindings from his arms around Gaara's feet and neck and stood on his back, effectively pinning Gaara below him as he rocketed back towards the earth in what looked like a bolt of green lightning.

A loud explosion once again rocked the arena as Gaara impacted the hard arena floor. A huge dust cloud erupted from the impact as the entire audience waited on baited breath.

--

Up in the Kage's box, both Kages watched the ensuing battle with rapt attention as the two genin battled with all of their being.

"I seemed to have underestimated the abilities of that genin Tsunade. I never expected any genin to use such a devastating technique in this tournament. I owe you an apology it seems. I said that none of your shinobi would be capable of laying a finger on my son, but it appears as though I was wrong."

Tsunade shook her head.

"It was only a matter of time until your son met someone who could out maneuver his sand. I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't happened sooner."

The Kazekage nodded.

"You're right I suppose. His reliance on that shield of his has made him neglect any of his taijutsu training that he has had. Perhaps this will serve as a reminder to him."

Tsunade nodded her head, before turning her head back to the battle below. The dust was finally beginning to settle. From beside her, she heard the Kazekage call out to one of his bodyguards.

"Hakkotsu, go and check on my son. I fear that win or lose, he will require some attention."

The taller of the two shinobi dressed in the customary Suna Anbu uniform bowed deeply before he began the long trek down to lower levels of the arena.

--

Naruto groaned as something woke him out of his deep slumber. Still groggy after being unconscious for such a long period of time, it took him a minute to gather his thoughts. Sitting up slowly, he shook his head and started taking stock of his being.

'Well, the sun is just past its midpoint, so it must be around one or so. That gives means I was unconscious for the better part of six or seven hours. Which would explain why my chakra reserves are almost back to full. At least the stupid fur ball is worth having around for something.'

As he began trying to stand up, a thick plume of smoke suddenly enveloped the landscape around him. Quickly flipping to his feet, he drew his nodachi and got ready.

'Has the invasion started already?'

He thought, worried that he had woken up in the middle of the battle. After a second or two the smoke began to dissipate leaving only a lingering fog that clung to the foliage. Suddenly the sounds of weapons flying through the air started to fill the air as numerous blades whisked through the air.

On his guard, Naruto adjusted his mask and slowly edged his way towards the clearings edge. Numerous weapons littered the forest floor and two Konoha ninja's stood across from one another.

'Is that Tenten and Mizuki-sensei?'

He thought to himself as he slowly approached the pair of shinobi. Tenten was holding her katana in a picture perfect stance. Mizuki was acting rather cocky as he drew a strange looking short sword. The blade had a slight green tinge to it, but otherwise the blade was rather unremarkable.

'Probably a poisoned steel' Naruto thought 'that grass Nin that Sasuke killed had a similar blade.'

The ninja claimed it was made the same way as the legendary Kusanagi, but seeing as how it had been broken in two by Sasuke, it was an obvious exaggeration.

From the corner of his eye, he could make out someone lying in the grass, near where the two standing shinobi was facing off. It was hard to tell from here, but by the lack of movement he was either unconscious or dead.

He heard as Mizuki taunted the tense genin in front of him.

"This sword was given to me by Orochimaru-sama himself. Do you honestly think that a lowly kunoichi like yourself stands any chance of defeating me?"

Naruto scowled as a deep hatred grew inside of him.

He hated traitors.

Mizuki jumped forward in a rather obvious initial attack, hoping to overpower the significantly small girl. Expecting a rather easy victory, Mizuki had a slightly insane grin plastered on his face.

Just as his sword was about to make contact with Tenten's blade, something firm grabbed is wrist, grating the many bones together painfully.

"If you feel the genin is beneath your station, feel free to fight me instead." Naruto growled out through grit teeth. His mask was activated, along with his rather tattered cloak and long nodachi; he made for a rather intimidating creature.

Mizuki wore a shocked expression on his face as he attempted to jump back from the white clad Anbu. Receiving a shock when Naruto simply shifting his grip on the wrist and rotated his hand into a picture perfect outside wrist lock, forcing the traitorous shinobi to his knees.

"Why are you attacking this genin Mizuki?"

Mizuki spat at the feet of his captor.

"Soon Orochimaru-sama will of destroyed this worthless city, and I will be placed in charge here as a ruling jounin. All of you will be NOTHING."

Naruto twisted harder on the wrist and pushed Mizuki towards the ground.

"Normally I would take you into Ibiki, but to be honest I just don't have the time. I never did really like you all that much anyways. You are hereby sentenced to death."

Mizuki's eyes widened in horror as he felt something press against his neck. In a last ditch effort; he bit down on the pill hidden in his mouth. It was filled with a strange concoction that Orochimaru's servant had given him to use as a last resort. Power began to flood through his veins as his body began to forcibly open several of the celestial gates and rapidly convert his fat to chakra.

Naruto kicked him hard in the side of the knee as he leapt back. The knee bent in at awkward angle, obviously broken, but Mizuki seemed to not notice the injury.

"This POWER. It's amazing. I'll kill you all now."

Naruto shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. Use whatever technique you like. However, once I've said I'll kill you, your death is assured."

With that he pulled his nodachi into its readied position and stood facing the estranged chuunin who had mysteriously generated ridiculous quantities of chakra.

"Before I kill you Anbu, what is your name? I want to add it to my collection."

Mizuki removed his chuunin vest to reveal a rather strange sort of metal armor that seemed to be made completely out of old hitai-ate. There were various symbols on the different strips of metal, each with a name carved below the symbol. To Naruto's chagrin he could see several Konoha symbols amidst the collection.

"You won't be alive long enough to remember my name. But if you wish to curse me in hell will the others I've sent there, you may call me Iwazaru."

Tenten's eyes widened in disbelief, rumors had begun to spread throughout the ranks of the new Anbu unit that was rumored to have a flawless record. Given the description from her sister, she also suspected that this was the Anbu that had single handedly taken out the three chuunin and jounin that held her class captive.

Mizuki appeared to also recognize the name. Apparently in the midst of the talking he had failed to recognize the name the white cloak had embroidered into it. That or he was just a little dense.

"I've heard of you Iwazaru. The spies say that you single handedly delayed the troops coming to Konoha by a full day and killed hundreds with your ninjutsu. Orochimaru has a huge reward for your capture or death."

Naruto sneered.

"You treasonous bastard."

Mizuki shrugged his shoulders.

"Now, now, Iwazaru settle down. After all, treason is really only a matter of dates."

Mizuki suddenly rushed forward, intending to surprise his opponent with a quick attack and over power him before he could react. To his surprise, Iwazaru didn't even bring his sword up to block the green tinged sword as it bit deeply into his side. Mizuki grinned maliciously at his victory.

"Boom" muttered the injured Anbu.

A small explosion sent Mizuki rocketing backwards. Behind him, Naruto seemingly materialized out of thin air and cut him cleanly in two with his large sword. In one smooth movement he flicked the blood from his blade and deposited back into his sheath before he turned to face Tenten.

"Are you alright Tenten?"

Tenten, too shocked at what had happened only nodded her head. She had never met an Anbu in person before. Many people seemed wary of the masked ninja, and now she could see why. They were brutally efficient.

"You killed him?"

The Anbu nodded his head,

"Please don't think ill of me for killing him so coldly, but given the circumstances I had no choice."

Iwazaru bent down next to the other genin who was still lying in the grass nearby.

"I'm sorry, but it appears that your teammate has passed on."

Tears started to leak out of Tenten's eyes as she stared down at the broken body of Fusei.

"Did you know him well?"

Tenten shook her head,

"I only met him this morning. We were assigned to check this quadrant for any civilians that needed to be evacuated when Mizuki came in. I dropped one of the emergency scrolls, but they never responded… He as a good person though… He didn't deserve this…"

By this point the adrenalin had fled her system, leaving her feeling weak and scared. To her surprise the Anbu, who she now realized was barely any taller than herself, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Ultimately, we're all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how. But what we can decide is how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered. Never forget him or his sacrifice, to do so would dishonor him."

She stood there for several seconds before she knelt down and closed Fusei's eyes.

"How do you do it Iwazaru-san…"

Iwazaru sighed,

"One of the first things my Sensei ever taught me was that as shinobi we are, _damned by the flesh, saved by the blood_. At first I never understood what he meant, but I believe I am beginning to understand. I have killed… more people than I care to think about, but their deaths may have saved thousands of innocents. Someday, maybe you will understand, but for now, lead me to your rendezvous point. We need to find out what went wrong with your beacon scroll."

--

The dust in the arena took several minutes to clear completely. The loess that remained in the air made the entire arena look hazy as it deposited a fine layer of silt throughout the entirety of the arena. When all the dust settled, they could just make out several figures at the arena floor.

A huge crater, well over twenty feet in diameter sat in the dead center of the arena floor. Lee stood bent over; his hands placed firmly on his knees to help keep himself steady as the aftereffects of using the eight gates wracked his body with pain.

At the side of arena, the proctor watched the area closely, looking for any signs of movement as the dust settled. Several ninja in the stands appeared to be using subtle wind techniques to move the dust away faster. Once visibility was good enough, Genma began carefully approaching the craters edge.

At the bottom of the crater the mangled mess of Gaara could be seen lying on a bed of sand. Looking back at the edge of crated, Lee was still managing to stay standing, although just barely.

"Winner…" He stood up, and pointed towards Lee, but before he could finish his announcement, a spike of sand shot out of the crater's bottom, nearly taking off his head. A broken voice from the bottom of the crater called out to him.

"This fight isn't over yet proctor. Mother requires his blood!"

More sand began to pour into the cratered arena floor as Gaara's battered form slowly rose to the surface, his body braced in place by compressed sand.

Genma watched the procession with sick fascination as the clearly heavily wounded boy started to gather more and more chakra.

Just as Genma was about to declare the match a draw, so both of the genin could get much deserved medical care, he felt a genjutsu begin to fall over the entire arena. Glancing over towards the badly strained Lee, he yelled out.

"Find someplace safe Lee. The invasion is starting."

Genma wasted no time as he moved to attack Gaara, only to come face to face with two jounin.

One wore the standard Suna jounin's garb, although his head was covered with a white head covering, and a similar white cloth covered half of his face. Likely hiding scars from a battle long ago.

The other was a peculiarly white sound-nin with long white hair and two red dots above his brow. He wore a simple cream-colored shirt with a large rope bow holding it together. The Suna jounin made to stand directly in front of Genma while yelling to his ally behind him.

"Kimmimaro, take Gaara to the rendezvous. Shukaku should have him ready to fight again in a half hour at most."

Kimmimaro nodded his head and walked up to the still raving Gaara.

"Gaara-san, Orochimaru-sama has dictated that you are to come with me. I assure you where we are going, there will be plenty for you to slate your blood thirst with."

Gaara seemed to calm down slightly as Kimmimaro carefully picked him up and began running out of he arena, unaware of the two Anbu that were shadowing him as they left.

--

"So it has come to this Kazekage? Is life in the desert really so unbearable?" Asked Tsunade.

The moment the genjutsu begin to fall over the arena the last remaining Suna-nin, a jounin named Baki, tackled her two bodyguards sending all three crashing down into the stands below. She wasn't sure what became of her bodyguards, but she saw Baki move to intercept Genma, giving the one named Hakkotsutime to flee with the Kazekage's son.

"Kukuku… Foolish Tsunade-hime, I told that idiot sensei of ours that one day I would return to burn Konoha to the ground, and if I take the useless Sunagakure, all the better for me."

Tsunade sighed as she cast the stifling Hokage's robes to the side, watching her old teammate do the same. Around her, she could see several dead chuunin and four Oto-nin rapidly finishing a long series of hand seals.

"Ninpo: Shishienjin" (Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment) the four ninja yelled as one.

A massive series of purple flame like walls sprung to life, created a rectangular prison that surrounded the two Sannin. Tsunade glanced at the surrounding violet walls, idly throwing a single shuriken at the walls, only to see the metal burst into flames and melt away into nothingness.

"My, what an interesting technique you have here Orochimaru, did you make this yourself."

Orochimaru chuckled,

"Is this really the time for idle banter Tsunade-hime? We both know why I came here today."

Tsunade rolled her shoulders, loosening up the stiff muscles that had grown stiff sitting in the large rock hard chair.

"I suppose it was inevitable, you never did like people beating you at anything. I remember the one time that Jiraiya actually beat you in a spar; you poisoned his sake that night. Poor perverted idiot couldn't go more than five feet from a bathroom for a week."

Orochimaru chuckled at the memory.

"I'm sure you'll find that I am no longer busying myself with such useless endeavors such as that. No my revenge now is more permanent."

Orochimaru leapt back, placing a little more distance between him and the Hokage.

"Now then Tsunade-hime, I have arranged a little bit of a reunion for you and your family."

Orochimaru bit his finger and began making a short series of hand seals before slamming his hand to the ground.

"Kuyichose: Edo Tensei no jutsu!" (Summoning technique: Impure World Resurrection)

As Orochimaru continued to feed large quantities of chakra into the ground, a large array of seals appeared, forming what looked like two black circles. From the circles, two wooden coffins rose solemnly from the earth. As the caskets came to their full height, the lids began to slowly fall open. In front of the two caskets, Tsunade stared on in shock.

"Dan… Nawaki…"

--

Sasuke and Sakura were desperately trying to keep up with the sound jounin who was currently carrying Gaara, but countless enemy shinobi continued to block their path as they followed.

As Sasuke kicked a masked Oto-nin in the face crushed his cheekbone under his right eye. It wouldn't be fatal, but it would hurt like hell when he woke up.

"They're heading towards the western wall. Do you think they intend to meet up with the army from Suna?"

Sakura shouted over the sounds of the battle around them. Sasuke was about to answer, but it seemed as though every Suna and Oto shinobi in the entire village made a point to put themselves between them and their target.

Sakura ducked under Sasuke and landed a heavy punch on the chest of a Suna chuunin, effectively shattering several of his ribs and pushing the various shards into his lungs.

"Probably. That's the only reason to head in this direction. If I had to bet on it, I would say they probably need Gaara to take down the wall on that side. With Iwazaru slowing them down I doubt any of them had the time or chakra to summon anything large enough to destroy the wall."

On the eastern side of the city, a large three-headed snake had plowed through the wall, destroying countless homes and lives, but judging by the monstrous toad that had appeared shortly after, Jiraiya had the problem handled. The damage had still been done though, large numbers of Oto-nin poured through the wall before Konoha was able to get to the site.

Sakura and Sasuke finally got passed the last of the small team that had attempted to waylay them just to see the white jounin reach the forests edge.

"Damn!" Shouted Mizaru, losing his cool for a moment. "We need to stop them before they regroup, otherwise it's going to be really hard to get to them at all."

Without a second thought the pair ran at full speed through the forest attempting to make up for the lost ground between them. Sasuke made no attempt to wait for Sakura and began pulling ahead. In the forests the San'en were in their element. They had been raised in the ancient forests around Konoha and it was in here when they finally began to catch up to the Oto-nin. When they were less than a half mile away from the wall, they were within fifty feet of the jounin.

"Kikazaru do you think you can get him with a genjutsu?" Sasuke yelled back over his shoulder.

Sakura started forming the necessary seals to trap the jounin when something strange happened. The jounin's chakra levels suddenly dramatically increased. The power boost gave him a significant boost in speed that left the two San'en staring balefully at where the jounin had disappeared. Several seconds later they could see him leap over the great wall with a single go.

"Looks like the two of you could use a hand." Said a very familiar voice behind them.

Sasuke and Sakura spun around to find Naruto standing in the trees looking a little worse for wear, surrounded by around forty chuunin and genin.

"Iwazaru, if I wasn't so happy to see you, I'd kill you myself." Muttered Sakura.

Iwazaru leapt down from the surrounding trees and walked towards his teammates, the other ninja waiting patiently in the trees above.

"So what's going on here anyways? I made it back sometime shortly after dawn this morning, but passed out from chakra exhaustion before I could actually make it to the city. I wake up to find our sensei Mizuki about ready to kill a genin. By the time I take care of that whole ordeal there was some giant explosion at the arena and giant three headed snake tore through the eastern wall."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"That's the bulk of it actually. Rock Lee opened up a can of whoop ass on Suna's jinchuuriki before Gaara had the chance to transform. Unfortunately immediately afterwards some pale sound jounin took him and fled the arena before we could stop them."

Naruto nodded,

"I saw them run by, but I wasn't able to stop them. I assume that he's trying to buy Gaara some time to heal so he can use his demon to break through the wall since I delayed them too long to get a summoning circle set up."

Sakura looked towards the wall.

"Where are all the guards who are supposed to be on the wall?"

Naruto frowned beneath his mask.

"It appears that Mizuki and at least one other traitor killed most of the chuunin that were on this wall. I managed to meet up with the jounin at the command station and they're trying to scrounge up some more help, but in the mean time we're to hold the wall."

Sasuke and Sakura glanced behind their teammates at the group of ninja standing behind them in the trees.

"Kami help us…"

They were about to leave when Naruto stopped them.

"Listen, if we get there and their jinchuuriki is already trying to transform then hold off on any attacks. I think I can stop the Shukaku, but I'm going to need you two to buy me some time and get the rest of them ready to fight. If we can pull this off, we can still win this battle before those bastards ever set foot inside of Konoha"

--

Tsunade stood staring at the faces of her dead brother and old lover. She stood there and stared for several moments as both of their ashy faces stared back with dull eyes.

"You're an abomination Orochimaru."

She grit out through clenched teeth. Orochimaru only responded with cackling glee.

"Why Tsunade-him, I thought you would revel in the chance to see your dear Dan and precious brother Nawaki. I thought you loved them so very much." He said with a sickening sneer.

Tsunade sighed and made a single hand seal before Orochimaru could react.

"Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu" (Fire release: Dragon fire) A blazing hot fire raced towards the still immobile bodies before Orochimaru could react, rendering them to burning piles of ash.

"I was going to wait till your invasion failed first before I struck you down Orochimaru, but you pushed that too far. I could not allow Tsunade's loved ones to be used as some sick play toy. I regret the day I ever let you leave this village." Tsunade said in a very familiar voice.

Orochimaru looked past the smoldering ruins of what was supposed to be his secret weapon. Tsunade excelled in short ranged combat, which was exactly what would happen when both combatants are locked inside of a box. The corpses of her loved ones, raised to fight against her should of leveled the playing field.

"You never were able to see through my genjutsu very well Orochimaru."

Orochimaru growled.

"Sarutobi-sensei… Aren't you supposed to be convalescing in your old mountain cabin?"

A deeper rough voice laughed.

"Even you fell for that stupid lie? You are better at hiding than I thought Sarutobi."

The smoke finally died down from the smoldering bodies, giving Orochimaru a full view of the wizened old man standing across from him along with a large white haired gorilla.

"And you brought out Enma as well…" Looking at his old sensei he noticed a small white mask hanging from his belt with the likeness of a monkey on it.

"So you were the one that waylaid my armies from Suna so efficiently. I was wondering what new up and coming shinobi would be capable of the jutsus my captains have been whispering about. They said you are a demon, The Mafuu, an Ikkitousen, along with other more colorful names. He wore a white Anbu cloak and a mask with a monkey on it"

Sarutobi chuckled at the insinuation.

"I have heard similar rumors, however that man was not me, but Iwazaru. He is possibly the greatest ninjutsu specialist in this village at the moment. He, Kikazaru, and Mizaru are the greatest team I have ever taught."

Orochimaru bristled.

"Iwazaru, Mizaru, and Kikazaru, the San'en… How poetic."

Sarutobi continued smiling.

"Yes I thought so too."

Orochimaru sneered before he started gagging, pulling a long straight bladed sword from his throat. Sarutobi eyed the blade closely.

"Kusanagi…" He turned to he oldest and most faithful summons. "Enma, I will need for you to become diamond hard for me."

Enma erupted into a large puff of smoke, transforming into a large thick black Bo staff that Sarutobi picked up and twirled around expertly. Assuming a ready position he looked straight into Orochimaru's eyes.

"Well I doubt you came here just to reminisce with your old Sensei, so why don't we get started."

Orochimaru smiled wickedly,

"Of course Sarutobi-sensei."

The pair clashed together. The Anbu who were waiting outside of the violet walls weren't able to keep up with the pair of kage level shinobi as they clashed together. Orochimaru's sword flashed brightly and crashed against the diamond hard Bo staff. Jutsus would appear randomly, bursts of flames, walls of mud and water, all appearing so fast and seamlessly that there was never a pause in the battle.

Finally after several minutes of intense fighting the pair leapt back to study the other for a weakness.

Orochimaru smiled benignly at his old sensei,

"I am amazed that you have managed to keep your skills so sharp this late into your life Sarutobi-sensei."

Sarutobi smiled despite the situation at hand,

"Well, a man's body may grow old, but inside his spirit can still be as young and as restless as ever."

Orochimaru laughed loudly and reached up to his face.

"Ah, so naïve Sarutobi-sensei… Why settle for a young spirit while the body grows old… When you can have both?"

Orochimaru peeled back a layer of skin on his face, revealing an effeminate face below.

Sarutobi growled.

"I always had such high hopes for you Orochimaru… But you're no longer even human, now you're just an abomination… There was book written long ago, but I remember a few lines from it."

_In the end, you are exactly--what you are._

_Put on a wig with a million curls,_

_put the highest heeled boots on your feet,_

_yet you remain in the end just what you are._

"You will never live forever Orochimaru, even if I fail to kill you, my students will not…"

Orochimaru laughed as he charged his old sensei and started forming hand seals,

"Katon: Goryuka no jutsu!" (Great Dragon Fire) Shouted Orochimaru as he shot several large dragon shaped fireballs at his old sensei.

Sarutobi didn't miss a beat as he responded making several hand seals before he too yelled out a jutsu.

"Doton: Hugandi no Kabe!" (Wall of the Emperor) A massive wall of interlocking pillars of stone created a massive wall in front of him. The fiery dragons exploded against the hard rock causing a shockwave that could be felt throughout the entire arena. As the smoke and debris cleared, Orochimaru could make out his old Sensei standing at the top of the wall staring down at him. Suddenly a look of horror appeared on Sarutobi's face as he looked past his old student.

"What the hell is that?"

Orochimaru turned around and chuckled,

"Surely you didn't think I would come here without bringing the strongest weapon that Suna has ever controlled? Gaara can release the Shukaku at will…"

--

The three Anbu stood on the top of the largely abandoned wall overlooking the cities borders. Kimmimaro had managed to get Gaara to the far side of the wall and was waiting for Gaara to complete his transformation. Out of the forest below, hundreds of Suna and Oto ninja began to flood towards the wall, attempting to keep the Konoha ninja occupied until Gaara had amassed enough of his demon's chakra to break through the ancient walls.

Looking back at the small group, less than forty, ninja that stood behind him, he gave a small imperceptible nod towards Naruto and Sakura and turned to face the crowd.

Naruto flew through a rapid set of hand seals as the wave of enemies poured out of the forest towards the wall. As he finished the seals, he gripped his nodachi tightly. With a mighty heave he swung the long blade around in an arc as a horribly loud screeching noise ripped through the atmosphere.

"Futon: Kirikuzusu no jutsu! (Wind Release: Cutting through the Mountain)"

As the sword swept through the air, a massive blade of wind formed cleanly cutting through countless ninja and trees, leaving a deep wide gouge a hundred feet deep in the earth behind them.

The technique was ridiculously chakra laden, but it served its purpose and stopped the enemies' advances. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Sakura give him a signal that she too had completed her technique.

Turning back to the still scared group of mostly chuunin and a few genin standing behind him. Sasuke called out to them.

"My friends! It has fallen to us, to defend Konoha, and we have made our defenses as well as they can be made. Remember what we fight for, and what we stand to lose. If we lose." Sasuke points back towards the city not far behind the great wall. "They die…" Turning back to the army in front of them he yelled out. "This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die!"

Quietly he looked back on his comrades one last time before uttering,

" Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time."

Behind him, the giant mass of sand was growing rapidly, already dwarfing the wall that they ninja stood upon. One of the genin called out to Sasuke.

"How do we fight against something like that though Mizaru?"

Sasuke laughed,

"There was once a demon known as Kyuubi. It too sought to destroy our precious village, but it only broke itself against our walls. The demon behind us is named Shukaku; it too makes to destroy everything it holds dear. But let us worry about Shukaku and their leader, we will meet them head on, all I ask is that you keep the rest of the off our backs."

The nervous genin nodded his head solemnly and pulled a well cared for kunai into his hand.

Sasuke turned around just in time to see Gaara finish his transformation. A several hundred foot tall tanuki stood staring down at the small wall in front of it. Gaara sat imbedded on the demon's head with a malicious grin plastered on his face.

"I'll kill you all!" He cackled gleefully as he began to make his way towards the wall, extending one of his large clawed hands back to break the wall.

Sasuke turned towards his teammates and yelled out to them.

"Now!"

Sakura nodded and jumped back from Naruto who appeared to be standing on the wall perfectly still. As she leapt towards Sasuke, the air around Naruto shimmered as a strongly woven genjutsu crashed. Torrents of chakra suddenly expanded outward, washing over everyone within several hundred yards of where Iwazaru was standing.

Naruto's hands were locked in front of his face, a massive ball of fire chakra swirled in front of him massive amounts of chakra spun around him, flinging debris into the air. The sphere of chakra was already well wider than any man was tall. There was suddenly something terrifying about him, a feeling of dangerousness that could hardly have been attributed to the blond at first glance. As if there were something that stood behind him, some door that had been opened to reveal an ancient malevolent rage, terrible and patient.

The chakra around him and the sphere of immolation in front of him continued to build rapidly as a harried command from Kimmimaro sprang through the air.

"Take him down! Don't let him finish that technique!"

Hundreds of enemy ninja's floundered as they attempted to throw whatever weapons they had available at the raging inferno of a ninja that stood atop the tallest peak of the wall. Most of the weapons never made it remotely close to where he stood, and the few that did had fallen apart due to the heat long before landing a blow.

Finally after several more seconds, even the sand encased giant recognized the threat of whatever jutsu Naruto was attempting to pull of and swung out to disembowel the flea sized Anbu.

When the claw was almost half way towards its mark, the air around Iwazaru suddenly stilled. The incredible ball of chakra sat, deceptively peaceful, floating in fronts of the Anbu. Suddenly chakra sprang to life once more, blowing the tattered and torn robes of the Anbu around him like wings on an angel of death. Across the field Naruto's voice thundered out.

"Katon: Goryuujin!" (Fire Release: Great Dragon God) The great mass of chakra in front of him was suddenly absorbed into the powerful wind currents that buffeted around Naruto. A large explosion suddenly erupted, the shockwave alone knocking many ninja to their knees.

Below, the enemy looked up in horror as a large snake like mass of fiery red chakra laced around the enraged Anbu, giving him an ethereal glow. Finally with a loud roaring noise the chakra flew out from him. From tip to tale, the fiery dragon was at least five hundred feet in length, and easily a hundred feet in diameter. As it flew, it continued to grow, pulling oxygen into itself from the atmosphere.

It tore into the sky, shining like a second sun as it rose high into the air. Later, it would be said that the entirety of the fire nation paused for a moments that day and looked towards the rising star. After several more tense seconds, the dragon paused and roared to life once more as it came crashing back to earth, larger and more terrible than ever.

As it approached and eerie silence pervaded the bloodied battlefields. Time slowed as the armies watched the massive beast crash down atop of Gaara's massive sand form. The dragon slammed into the top of the demons head with the force of a falling comet, pushing the mountain-sized demon to his knees.

Shukaku's unearthly wailing filled the air as torrents of fire wrapped around his being before reaching the ground below. Anyone within a hundred yards of the raging inferno combusted immediately, Kimmimaro had wrapped himself in a tight cocoon of pale bones, in an attempt to ward of the heat that radiated from the flailing and burning demon.

Through the flames, the ninja saw the great demon fall to its hands, in an attempt to brace itself against the heartless whore called gravity. After nearly a full minute the fires about the demon withered away, the ground and forest around it still alight with reckless abandon, the tall flames leaping from the ancient trees, licking at the demons body.

Where there had once stood a monster of sand now stood a glowing orange mass of molten hot glass. At the top, you could just make out a small dark sphere, wrapped securely in a chakra-laden shell. The mass slowly worked towards the surface and fell to the ground. Upon impact it shattered, revealing an exhausted and nearly unconscious Gaara.

Sasuke looked over towards his friend and teammate who was breathing heavily on the tower nearby. Despite the explosion that had occurred around him, he seemed unharmed. Although any jutsu that could single handedly exhaust his teammate was more than likely wreaking havoc on his chakra network.

Sasuke turned back towards the rest of the ninja guarding the walls and called out,

"And so another demon meets its downfall on the walls of Konoha. Iwazaru has made good my prediction, now it is up to us to stop the rest. Mizaru and I will take the Kaguya. Give them no quarter, for they will not give any to you."

The Konoha nin all cheered and leapt down the wall after the pair of ANBU, leaving a winded and exhausted Iwazaru leaning against a wall for support as a single bun haired genin walked towards him slowly.

--

Back in the arena, Orochimaru and the Sandaime had paused for a brief respite after hearing the deafening explosion at the cities wall. Both were beginning to show signs of exhaustion. Orochimaru had been hit several times and appeared to be favoring his right arm after a particularly brutal hit to his left arm. Sarutobi had thus far avoided any serious damage, but every knick or cut from Orochimaru's sword burned like fire as the poison swept through his system slowly killing his nerves.

"Your dying old man… Kusanagi's venom is lethal, even in such minute doses; even now you must feel as if your entire body is engulfed in flames. You and this damn village are failed to die."

Sarutobi grimaced as he stood up straight to face is fallen student.

"I'm Sarutobi Hiruzen, The Professor, The God of Shinobi, and the Sandaime Hokage. I've fought in THREE Great Ninja Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to ninjutsu and giant summons. I've seen the all the oceans, and tribes of natives no ninja had ever seen before. I've won and lost a dozen fortunes, KILLED THOUSANDS OF MEN and loved only one woman with a passion a FLEA like you could never begin to understand. That's who I am. NOW, GO HOME, BOY!"

Sarutobi's chakra flared as he suddenly tore across the expanse between himself and Orochimaru, chakra surging with every step. When he was within twenty feet of Orochimaru he suddenly disappeared from view before a huge crashing blow landed and Orochimaru's already injured arm sending him careening through the enclosure. Orochimaru tried to right himself to land, but Sarutobi was already upon him. Enma crashed hard onto the Sannin's collarbone slamming him hard into the tiled roof. Enma suddenly grew in length as the long black staff crashed hard into Orochimaru's back as a sickening crack was heard from the small crater that had form.

Sarutobi landed on the ground in a crouch breathing deeply as he stared at the hole. Soon enough Orochimaru's arm appeared, dragging him out of the ground. One side of his chest appeared crushed and there was no movement from his lower extremities. His left arm hung limply, the humorous having been crushed completely.

Orochimaru had a look of absolute hate on his face as he stared at his old Sensei before his head crashed to the ground. Sarutobi stared at the body, not wanting to believe that he had actually managed to kill his student. As he slowly walked closer, he saw Orochimaru's right had twitch before a horrible pain erupted from his back.

Looking down, he saw Kusanagi's green tinged blade extruding from his chest.

"Kukuku… I win old man…" Chuckled Orochimaru as the purple fire broke and his men gathered him. One of the Oto-nin approached the aged Hokage and removed the sword, preparing to sever the old man's head when Orochimaru called out.

"Let him die slowly Kidomaru… Let him see his city burn."

The Oto-nin nodded and leapt below as several Konoha Anbu flooded into the battle area, but the four Oto-nin had already fled with a broken Orochimaru.

--

Kimmimaro immediately faced off with Sasuke and Sakura, effectively separating them from the rest of the Konoha-nin. He stood not far from the pair, his face settled into a blank mask as he began talking.

"Do you know why I came here to fight today Mizaru, Kikazaru?"

Both Anbu stared blankly at him through their masks, waiting for him to continue,

"For over a decade, I have followed Orochimaru, I have killed thousands for him and yet I now find that I am unable to continue in his service."

Kimmimaro removed the light coat that he was wearing, revealing his cursed seal to both of the Anbu,

"I was marked, and as long as he knows that I am alive, he will seek me relentlessly. So I came here today, in hopes that one of you will finally best me. No one other than Orochimaru has been able to best me in a fight."

Sasuke was surprisingly the one, who interjected,

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Kimmimaro began straightening his coat,

"I want nothing other than to disappear into history as Orochimaru's most dedicated servant. However, that cannot happen until I have truly been beaten."

Sakura tilted her head to side questioningly,

"So does that mean that you intend to lose?"

Kimmimaro's face darkened,

"No… I will battle you with the entirety of my heart, and you will probably loose. But maybe, you might challenge me. God needs the Devil Anbu-san"

Kimmimaro extruded a long white blade from his arm and pointed it at the pair of Anbu,

"Are you prepared to be tested?"

--

Tenten knelt next to the Anbu who was still breathing deeply after using such a gratuitous amount of chakra. For the first time since he had found her and Mizuki fighting, she took a good look at him. His cloak, while clean, was littered with small cuts and scrapes. Beneath the cloak she could see that his armor had been damaged in several places, one or two looked like kunai had actually pierced the skin as blood had left small dark red rings in the surrounding fabric. Reaching towards one of the larger wounds on his shoulder she said.

"You're hurt Iwazaru."

She made to pull out a small bandage to wrap the wound with then Iwazaru put a hand on her arm to stop her. She was amazed to see his mask change form as the monkey holding its mouth closed suddenly opened his mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth that sent a chill down her spine.

"Don't bother with me Tenten." He pulled back the shirt under his cloak revealing smooth skin around where the wound should have been. "I assure you, I am quite unharmed, but I am very tired."

Tenten nodded her head and put away the roll of bandages before offering the Anbu her canteen of water. Iwazaru accepted the water, turning around to hide his face from the girl; he lifted his mask slightly and took a deep drink. Tenten seemed slightly confused by the Anbu.

"Is it really such a sin for me to see your face?"

Iwazaru reaffixed his mask and returned the water.

"After the atrocities I've committed in the last day, it would be better if no one on the planet knew who me or the rest of my team."

Tenten nodded slowly, not really understanding what he meant by that. She extended a hand to him and helped lift him back to his feet. Below they could see the other two Anbu squaring off with the strange white haired Oto-nin that seemed to be leading the attack on the wall. Not far from the rest of the ninja, the molten glass slowly spread throughout the forest floor, coating everything around in thick sheets of opaque glass. It was near this that something caught Iwazaru's eye. Gaara was shakily getting back to his feet and trying to make his way towards the battle as the small amounts of remaining sand went to work grinding down rocks.

"That redhead is really starting to piss me off." Naruto grumbled. He looked over towards the girl standing near him.

"Tenten, word has it that you are an expert marksman with your weapons and that you never miss?"

Tenten blushed at being recognized by what was obviously a powerful ninja.

"I am good at throwing weapons, why?"

Iwazaru reached into his cloak and withdrew a fairly large green scroll, which he handed to the girl.

"I've used most of my throwing weapons that I have on hand, but there should be a large quantity stored inside that scroll. As it stands the enemy still outnumber us, and with both of my teammates engaged, we need every hand we can get. I want you to get to the best position that you can and whenever you can, bring the rain."

Tenten nodded.

"What are you going to do?"

Iwazaru reached into his pocket and withdrew a blue pill about the size of a marble.

"Naruto" Tsunade called out as the team was practicing various skills in the large underground training facilities.

_Naruto looked over, seeing the Godaime standing in the doorway waiting for him. He dropped the weights back on the rack and quickly made his way over to her._

"_Yes Hokage-sama?"_

_Tsunade gestured for him to follow her down the hall to a small meeting room and sat down in one of the chairs, gesturing for Naruto to do likewise._

"_Sarutobi told me that you were having a problem with the soldier pills that the Anbu use and asked me to look into it."_

_Naruto scratched his head,_

"_Well, its not that they don't work, but they don't work well enough. They don't even come close to refilling a quarter of my chakra reserves."_

_Tsunade sighed,_

"_I had a feeling that you would experience that problem."_

_She reached inside of her coat, fishing around for something as she continued talking._

"_My old teammate, Jiraiya had a similar problem when we were younger so I made him these special soldier pills. I warn you though, if you take one of these, they should completely recover your chakra, but if you take it on a empty stomach or when you're almost completely out of chakra, the after effects will probably render you unconscious for a couple of days, or in your case probably a few hours."_

_Naruto eyed the large blue pill she had produced carefully before accepting it._

Naruto stared at the blue pill. The Hokage had given it to him many months ago, but he had yet to ever take one. Jiraiya had commented during his training that they pills made for an excellent last ditch source of chakra, but that he should never take it unless necessary.

He looked back towards Tenten who was waiting patiently beside him.

"I'm going to go take care of the jinchuuriki and then I'll meet up with the rest of our ninja. Do me a favor though." He said as he slid the blue pill into his mouth. "When this is all over, I may need a hand getting somewhere to sleep for a bit."

Tenten nodded as she felt the Anbu's chakra begin to rapidly grow beyond what she had ever had thought possible. The Anbu nodded in her direction once before his mask slipped back to its inactive form and he leapt over the walls edge.

Tenten sighed and looked at the green scroll still in her hand. Biting her hand, she made a quick swipe across the seals as hundreds of kunai began to appear in front of her.

"Time to bring the rain…"

--

--Author's Notes

I thought it kind of funny that they guy that I killed off within minutes of introducing him is named Ukiyo Fusei, since both Ukiyo and Fusei translate to Fleeting Life.

_Hakkotsu _translates to White Bones, which I thought was a rather good codename for the last Kaguya.

Next chapter will include the fight between Sasuke, Sakura and Kimmimaro. I could of added it into this chapter, but I'm going to be gone for about a week and I wanted to get it out before I left, plus it would of added at least another 3000 words to the already 17000 word, 45 page chapter.

Goryuujin is a original technique. I found the term Ryuujin which means Dragon God or Dragon King in the translator that I use several months ago when I was bored and new I was going to use it in this story eventually.

Hope you liked it, please leave a review,

Mechen Manachewagan


	5. Chapter 5 Lighter Than A Feather

San'en Chapter 5

Lighter Than a Feather

Things never work out the way we think they should or the way they were planned. It's a constant – sort of like the laws of gravity. When the shit hits the fan, gravity will eventually pull it back down. Where it lands, now that's the interesting part.

Naruto left Tenten standing on the wall as he dropped down into the thick of the battles below. Hundreds of kunai were soon raining down on the enemy ninja's, knocking them out of the battle like leaves broken by the hail.

His tattered white cloak billowed about him as he slowly let it slide from his shoulders and flutter uselessly towards the ground. A knife had pierced the Gama kanji that Jiraiya had placed upon it after his training, staining the surrounding fabric a dark red. Below the cloak he wore the standard issue black shirt with white armor. The armor had taken a beating during the previous day, but the metal mesh still held it together, even where the leather had been pierced or damaged.

As soon as his feet hit the ground, multiple Oto-nin leapt at him, determined to receive retribution for the fiery demise of so many of their comrades. In a single smooth movement Naruto slid the long blade of his nodachi from its sheath. Faster than many of the Oto-nin could track, Naruto began systematically working his way through them. His blade flashing brilliantly in the glow of the burning forest as he slowly made his way towards his intended target.

The man was barely standing as he tried to run away from the blond haired ANBU. As Naruto got closer he could hear Gaara trying to yell out something, but his extreme exhaustion made his voice barely audible.

Naruto paused next to the scrambling body of his enemy and brought his sword up above his head.

"You are an incredibly problematic enemy… You know that don't you Gaara?"

Sasuke's sharingan blazed as he narrowly dodged another barrage of bones that the rocketed out of the strange man in front of them. Sakura had remained at a distance using her genjutsu to support him as the bone-wielding maniac was too fast for her to cope with for any great deal of time. Sasuke grunted with effort as he blocked another blow from the wickedly sharp bone sword.

Jumping back he attempted to put some distance between himself and the Kaguya. It was becoming readily apparent that the bone wielder was an expert in close range combat. The Kaguya however was not allowing Sasuke any breathing room as he lunged after the backpedaling Uchiha.

"Kikazaru I need a second" Sasuke shouted back to his teammate.

Sakura nodded and quickly rejoined the fray, breaking a pair of bright yellow vials in her hands as she went. This time when Sasuke leapt back Sakura leapt in front of him, blocking the Kaguya from following. Without a moments hesitation she swung a quick fist towards the Kaguya's head her other hand was locked in a single hand seal.

Seeing the obvious attack, Kimmimaro made to block with a fortified forearm only for her fist to pass through his block and slam into the side of his neck sending him crashing to the ground.

Using the time his teammate was providing to the fullest, Sasuke began quickly undoing the straps that held weights to his legs and waste and dropped them to the ground. He was about to jump back into the fight when he saw Sakura signal him to stay back.

'_What is she playing at?'_ He thought as he watched Kimmimaro slowly stand back up holding is throat in obvious pain.

Sakura ran forward as fast as she was capable and began laying out punishing blows upon the now reeling Kaguya. Every time Kimmimaro would strike back his blades would seemingly pass through Sakura and every time he tried to block an attack the effect was the same.

Kimmimaro gritted his teeth as the masked Anbu landed yet another punishing blow, this time breaking one of his floating ribs. With a grimace he pushes the broken rib from his body, replacing it with a newly grown one. Kikazaru had landed blow after blow on his body forcing him to constantly reinforce and grow new bones.

"You'll never win at this rate Kikazaru…" Kimmimaro comments quietly. "Almost any other opponent would be downed, but you are unfortunately facing a Kaguya. You could break every bone in my body and I would still not stay down."

Despite his quiet taunts, Sakura remained stoic and slowly dropped back into her stance, simultaneously activating her mask to allow her full abilities to come to light. Kimmimaro grew silent as he too prepared for another clash. He willfully began to make all his bones more dense growing layer after layer of bone.

Sakura once again ran forward, her hands faintly glowing. Just before she reached her target, Kimmimaro tried to launch another salvo of bones at her, but as he brought his arm up he was overcome with a sense of dizziness. Lost in his vertigo, he completely missed his target, allowing Sakura to land another harsh blow along his ribcage, shattering several of the bones.

This time though, Sakura did not follow up on her attack, instead she allowed the injured Kaguya to roll away and regain his footing. From the sidelines, Sasuke watched with a sick fascination as the Kaguya slowly righted himself, his flailing chest quickly regaining its structure as the ribs reformed. The small bone shards of the broken ribs slowly pushed out of the skin and dropped to the ground.

Kimmimaro took a deep breath as the ribs finally reattached to his sternum; only to let out a dry cough as the world started to spin again. Barely sparing a glance towards his opponent, he could see her forming a single-handed ram seal.

Kimmimaro began laughing despite himself.

"You use pain to hide the onset of genjutsu… No wonder they called you San'en geniuses. Few could mix such fast paced taijutsu and subtle genjutsu."

Forming a ram seal of his own, he quickly cancelled out the weak genjutsu, leaving only a small residual amount of dizziness in its wake. Able to see clearly again he immediately went back onto the offensive. Lashing out with two short blade like bones. For the first time since the fight had started, Sakura found herself back pedaling as the Kaguya unleashed a rapid onslaught of jabs and slashes. Finally seeing an opening, Sakura ducks under one jab, spins around the second and drops towards the ground, pushing as much chakra as she can into a blow against the soil, causing a large upheaval. The tremors and dislodged soil threw Kimmimaro off balance.

Without wasting a moment Sakura pulled out one more vial of the opaque yellow liquid and crushed it in her hands before landing two more devastating blows to his right thigh, completely shattering the large femur.

For the first time since they had started their fight, Kimmimaro actually yelled out in pain for several seconds as he rolled on the ground trying to quickly regenerate his lost bone.

Sakura was breathing heavily as she watched him for several seconds.

'_Please just stay down this time…" _She thought as she fought to regain her breath. Sakura knew that she was nearing the end of her endurance.

Sasuke still stood several yards away watching the Kaguya intently as black marks began to spread rapidly over his body in some kind of perverse tattoo. As the marks spread, his chakra began to rise rapidly, much like it had earlier when they were giving chase. He could visibly see bones begin to rise through the skin, forming long blades that extended from his hands and elbows.

"Kikazaru! Get back" he yelled as Kimmimaro suddenly sprang into movement much faster than previously. Sakura, heeding Sasuke's warning leapt back and began weaving a stronger genjutsu around Kimmimaro. This time though, Kimmimaro barely twitched as the genjutsu collapsed. In a last ditch effort, Sakura brought up her arms in an attempt to block the piercing bone that was aimed for her chest.

With a silent grimace, Sakura held her breath and waiting for the blow.

Throughout the city the forces of the Sand and Sound where rapidly being dealt with. The only wall that had been breached was on the eastern border, but Jiraiya had long since dealt with the large snake. He and his toads had made relatively short work of anyone foolish enough to challenge them.

Standing atop the large toad, Jiraiya surveyed the surrounding battles. Despite having an advantage in numbers, sound and sand ninja were falling in numbers rapidly. Having known about the upcoming invasion for several weeks prior, the vast majority of the surroundings were well prepared with various traps and ambush locations. Seeing the last dregs of enemies retreating into the forests that surrounded the great city, Jiraiya signaled the Anbu captain that had been assigned to his units.

"Lets repair this wall before it causes us anymore problems ok? You get the supports and I'll do the rest."

The younger Anbu nodded his head before starting a series of hand seals. From the rubble at the base of the large wall, several large beams of wood shot into the air forming a large interlocking structure that filled the chasm the snake had created. Once the wood settled, Jiraiya began a series of long seals of his own before slapping a hand down on the head of the large toad. The toad immediately spewed forth a vast volume of thick mud that began filling in the wooden structure like concrete before rapidly drying.

"Well it's not the prettiest thing I've ever made, but it should hold the wall until the contractors can finish it." Jiraiya said with a grimace.

The masked Anbu nodded

"We'll leave a few units here to clean up, but bring everyone else to the main gates to check on the Hokage. I'm going to the western wall. There were a couple large explosions over there too."

The Anbu silently nodded in agreement before he took off to inform the rest of the patrols.

As the Anbu left, the large toad that he was standing on erupted in a large plume of smoke. Falling gracefully to the ground below, Jiraiya immediately took off in the direction that he knew Naruto would be.

'_What on earth drove you to using the Goryuujin?'_ Was the only thought that worked its way through Jiraiya's mind.

At the main gate Tsunade was also just beginning to clean up. Unlike the other two main walls, the main gate wasn't assaulted by any summons. Instead what she assumed were several Tsuchi (Earth) missing-nin sent a massive stone boulder straight towards the main gate in an effort to break it down.

Only for Tsunade to throw it back at them…

Tsunade chuckled at the memory.

'The look on their faces was priceless'

Surprisingly the main gate endured the smallest of the attack forces. Apparently the assaulting ninja were primarily composed of the Suna-nins that the San'en had come across. This meant that by the time the invasion started, a large fraction of the enemy forces were already near exhaustion or injured. Once it became clear that Konoha was well prepared for them and that the Hokage herself was waiting patiently for them, they broke and retreated.

"The east wall is secured Hokage-sama. What is the status here?"

Tsunade turned around to see another of her white robed anbu kneeling behind her. She idly noted that this was the on that she had attached to Jiraiya's unit.

"Everything is set here. Take your units and head into the city proper. Meet up with Kakashi and Shikaku at command central and see if there are any hot spots left. If everything is secure then begin doing sweeps of the village, we don't want to find any sound-nin hiding in some alley somewhere."

The masked Anbu nodded in understanding, but didn't leave immediately.

"Permission to speak Hokage-sama?" He asked quietly.

Tsunade nodded her head.

"May I instead take my units to the western wall?"

Tsunade looked confused,

"Why? The Shukaku was dealt with already."

The Anbu nodded his head.

"True, but the teams sent to the wall earlier missed their rendezvous with us during sweeps. The invasion began too quickly for us to investigate. Jiraiya already headed in that direction."

Tsunade turned to look towards the western wall. From her vantage point she could still make out the wall even though black smoke was pouring up from the other side. Most likely caused by residual fires from whatever monstrous Katon jutsu had been used.

"Take your men around the to the western front then. If everything is ok there, then meet up at command." She acquiesced.

Tsunade looked back towards her men that were still working on the few stragglers that hadn't retreated.

'This nightmare is almost over…'

A loud grinding noise was all Sakura heard before being roughly thrown to the ground. Landing hard on her back, she gasped as air rushed from her lungs, leaving her breathless.

In front of her Sasuke had swept the possibly fatal bone aside, forcing the short bone blade to dig into the earth by his feet. The Kaguya's body was now completely covered in sporadic black lines as his chakra began to plateau out. In a blur of speed that Sakura's eyes were only able to barely follow he pulled the pale blade and yelled,

"Karamatsu no Mai (Dance of the Pines)" White bones shot out from all parts of his body as he began a full assault on Sasuke. Kimmimaro twirled his body around rapidly with all the grace of a true dancer. Sasuke however, having dropped his large weights, was able to weave around the intricate patterns.

Sakura was now the one forced to the sidelines as her teammate and Kimmimaro began exchanging blows. She had pushed herself to her limits fighting the Kaguya and had come out relatively unscathed. Slowly she rose back to her feet, consciously noting that all the other shinobi engaged around them seemed perfectly content to allow the her and Sasuke to continue fighting the sound leader.

'_I may not be able to keep up with Kimmimaro anymore, but if nothing else maybe I can find something to distract him." _Thought Sakura as she looked around the fields trying to find something to use to her advantage. Finally her eyes came to rest on Sasuke's training weights that were still lying in the grass nearby. With a small smirk on her face she slowly made her way over to where the weights were lying.

Quietly she bent down and tried picked up the deceivingly heavy metal bars.

'_Good lord' _She quietly intoned to herself _'These things have to weigh a hundred pounds each'_

Without drawing attention to herself she pulled one of the dense bars from their sleeves and threw it hard at the exposed back of Kimmimaro.

Gaara was desperately trying to backpedal away from the slowly approaching Anbu. Countless brash shinobi tried to stop the Anbu only to be batted away like a fly with his long nodachi.

"Stay away!" He yelled in vain as the Anbu got closer.

The Anbu walked right up next to him before finally stopping. He raised his sword high above his head and muttered,

"You are an incredibly problematic enemy… You know that don't you Gaara?"

Gaara's world froze as the long blade plunged towards his head. The long bluish blade glinting erratically in the firelight. Faintly he noted he could still feel the searing heat coming from the slowly cooling mountain of glass that had been his faithful sand only minutes ago.

Gaara feebly tried to move his head out of the way of the blow, part of stimulus response to fear that he had long since forgotten. A few grains of sand were meekly trying to waylay the blade as well, but he no longer possessed enough chakra to make the attempt worthwhile.

In the last couple of moments, he closed his eyes. He was surprised to only feel a slight tugging feeling on his neck. It was a strange tightness that could hardly be attributed to a swords piercing.

"Open your eye's Gaara. I'm not going to kill you."

Gaara's eyes cracked open only slightly. The long nodachi had pierced through the white sash he was wearing, effectively pinning him to the ground.

"Where's the seal Gaara?"

Gaara looked at the masked Anbu strangely as he lay on the ground in silence, not sure what to make of the situation. He was beaten, torn asunder by a greater force. He should be disposed of, cast away like the countless shinobi that he had brought down. This was not what he knew, not anything that he could of expected… it seemed oddly benign given the current situation.

"My seal?" He questioned inarticulately.

Naruto nodded his head,

"Yeah, you know, the thing that is holding the Shukaku inside of you?"

Gaara frowned. He was broken, and this man was rubbing salt, no sulfur unnecessarily in the open wounds.

"Why does it matter?"

Naruto sighed,

"Because no human deserves to be terrorized constantly because some old fogy somewhere can't write seals to save their life."

Gaara closed his eyes. _'Human…" _He thought idly. _"We are not humans…"_

"Its pointless. I'm no more human than you are, it would be better if you just killed me."

Naruto grew frustrated and pushed his blade deeper into the ground, falling to one knee to rest along side of Gaara.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked quietly, afraid that Gaara had somehow recognized the Kyuubi inside of him.

Gaara kept his eyes closed as he breathed lightly.

"Just what I said. We aren't human, we stopped being human the day we started killing each other and sending children out to fight our wars."

Naruto stared blankly at the young man in front of him, not sure how to respond to such a statement.

"You are no older than I am. Surely you too can feel the storm approaching, we both know that we're nothing more than weapons for our respective villages. I accepted that when my own father began sending me on suicide missions when his assassins failed to do their job. We shinobi stopped being human a very long time ago."

"But" Naruto held his hands out in entreaty, voice filled with conviction, "but we are human, Gaara!" Gaara met his gaze evenly, head cocking to the side as he asked softly,

"Are we? We aren't human … we are ninja. We aren't judged by our treatment of others, or how hard we work, we're judged through statistics. How many missions completed, mission ratings, knowledge of techniques, and abilities. We're not human."

Naruto found himself unable to answer his fellow jinchuuriki for several moments.

"Fine" He stated with an air of finality. "Then we'll start the change right here."

Naruto tore open Gaara's shirt with a rough jerk, exposing the pale smooth skin below it. On his right shoulder he bore a relatively small tattoo like seal. Without wasting any more time Naruto flew through several rapid hand seals before drawing back a glowing hand.

"Gogyo Fuuin! (Five Elements Seal)" He drove the five glowing fingers into Gaara's shoulder around the smaller seal. Gaara screamed out in pain for a second before his eyes rolled back in his head and unconsciousness greeted him.

Naruto suddenly leapt to his feet as he felt two people rapidly approaching him from behind. With a quick tug he yanked his long nodachi from the soil and held it in front of him.

Two Suna-nin, a blonde girl with a large fan and a guy in a black jumpsuit and a couple of large wooden puppets stood in front of him, both holding their respective weapons tightly.

"He's not dead if that's what you're thinking" Naruto said quickly before the two had a chance to do anything stupid. "I just reinforced his seal."

The pair looked unconvinced as they continued to stare at Naruto. The girl finally spared a glance behind him to see Gaara's chest slowly falling and rising.

"If you want to take him, I won't stop you, however I would recommend that you retreat and give him time to recover, he'll be out of it for a while."

The girl stared for several more seconds before slowly making her way around him to Gaara. The young puppeteer however never let Naruto out of his sights as the fan wielder slowly picked up Gaara. After several more seconds she leapt into the forest, away from the battles.

The young man never said a word as he suddenly threw down a small smoke bomb for cover and took off after the pair.

Naruto felt the world lurch dangerously beneath him as his energy pill finally began to wear off. Around him, numerous small battles were still being raged. He could see Tenten leaping from the wall, having finally exhausted her supply of kunai, and racing in his direction. Jiraiya was standing on the top of the wall with one of the Anbu captains surveying the battlefield. A group of Anbu leapt over the wall and began to provide back up the chuunin and genin that were fighting all around.

On the far side of the field he could just make out Sasuke fighting something…pointy.

Suddenly it felt as if gravity had increased tenfold as Naruto began falling to the ground, and for the second time that day, sweet unconsciousness claimed him.

Sasuke grunted as he batted away yet another pike like bone that protruded from his enemy at random intervals. Whatever style the man was utilizing, it was like trying to fight a deranged porcupine that spun like a top. Finally getting leverage over his opponent, Sasuke pushed him to the side effectively stopping the rapid rotations.

Sakura had bought him a precious few seconds when she threw his weights at Kimmimaro, but it appeared those weird tattoos did more than just give him a chakra boost.

The black tattoos that had spread to cover the Kaguya's entire torso had rapidly increased his speed and strength, making him significantly harder to keep up with. He knew without a doubt that if not for his sharingan, he would of never of made it so long in this fight. In a blink of an eye the Kaguya was back upon him, rapidly attacking with various bone protrusions.

Sasuke was once again on the defense as he valiantly tried to block the rapid onslaught. The Kaguya however seemed to be tiring as he attacks became slightly slower and less fluid. Finally he backed off for a second and placed his hands, back into a ram seal.

'_Did Sakura get another genjutsu on him?' _Sasuke wondered as he stole a quick glance back at his teammate and indeed she did have her hand in the common ram seal, but he couldn't see any chakra moving around her. Subtly he could see her send a short message to him with her other hand.

'Break the bones'

Sasuke looked back to the Kaguya, who appeared to still be fighting the effects of whatever Sakura had done to him. Without a delay, Sasuke sprinted towards the distracted Kaguya and swung hard at his exposed side. Expectedly, several ribs swung out to block the blade, but the blade would not be denied. The metal cracked the outer ribs and continued on its course, leaving a shallow cut in the side of the Kaguya.

Kimmimaro grunted in pain as he leapt back, clutching his side as the wound began slowly healing.

Sasuke grinned,

'_His bones are getting brittle.' _

The Kaguya stared at the broken ribs that were still extruding from his side. They weren't crushed like his fight earlier Kikazaru, nor were the cut like he had seen several wind users do. In his confusion, he nearly missed Mizaru rushing forward for another attack.

Quickly sprouting a hard bone from his arm to form a blade, he began parrying the blows from Mizaru, however after several blocks, he could see the bone once again cracking near the handle. He quickly discarded the sword and sprouted another one to continue blocking.

Sasuke was now wearing a grin as he continued to break whatever weapons his enemy tried to form. After breaking a fourth sword, Kimmimaro leapt back from Sasuke. Sasuke stabbed his short sword into the ground and placed his hands in a seal in front of his body. In rapid succession, chakra began swirling about him as he yelled,

"Kaimon Kai! (Gate of Opening Release!)

In a blink of an eye, Sasuke had disappeared leaving a trail of dust in his wake as he rapidly closed in on Kimmimaro. Kimmimaro made to block the obvious attack to his head or chest that he saw, only for Sasuke to disappear from view. Kimmimaro quickly looked around trying to spot his shockingly fast opponent.

Before he had time to react a crashing blow to his chin sent him flying high into the air. He tried to right himself in air, but the Anbu consistently laid kick after kick deep into his chest and stomach, forcing him higher and higher into the air. Finally the relentless assault came to end for a brief second before chakra strings began to wrap around him tightly.

Feeling the strings pull tight, the world turned upside down as he began to spin at unfathomable speeds. Finally after a couple seconds, he felt the weight on his back give way and the earth rush up to meet him.

Sasuke knelt on one knee as gasped for breath,

'_Did that work…' _he wondered as he stared at the cratered ground in which he had imbedded the Kaguya. He and Sakura stared intently as dust continued to settle around the crater. After several moments of silence, Sasuke began to relax. Suddenly below him, he felt a slight shift in the soil.

"Sawarabi no Mai!" (Dance of the Seedling Fern) Without any further warning, large spires of bone began to sprout out of the ground. It took all of Sasuke's speed and agility to dodge the veritable forest of bone spikes. Sakura, managed to shatter the first few spires, giving her a little breathing room as the bones continued to grow and multiply.

Sasuke spun and wove his way through the rapidly growing spikes before finally reaching sanctuary on a large rock that the bones had been unable to pierce. Dropping to his knees, Sasuke gasped for breath as the bones around him finally began to settle.

A veritable forest of white protrusions reach up from the earth and surrounded the small stone sanctuary that he had found. The deathly white bone glistened in the firelight as the muffled sounds of the surrounding battles wafted in on the breeze.

"Kikazaru!" Sasuke yelled into the dense palisades of bone.

"She won't be able to hear you in here Mizaru…"

Sasuke spun around to see Kimmimaro slowly extricating himself from one of the larger bone spires.

Sakura stood gasping for breath. Whatever technique the strange Oto-nin had used had decimated the surrounding area. Suna, Oto, and Konoha-nin alike had been impaled on the long white spires, their blood staining the bones.

Somewhere inside the dense forest she could hear her teammates muffled yells as he called out to her.

'_Hold on Sasuke' _She thought as she began plowing her way through the forest of bones.

Finally after several seconds of running, she saw Sasuke, a bone spire impaled deep into his left arm. By the looks of it, Kimmimaro had tried to stab his heart, but Sasuke had rolled out of the way.

Kimmimaro had lost his pale skin and tattoos and was now a dark brown color. Large bone spires stuck out from his sides and he wielded a long white sword that appeared to be made of his vertebrae. The most striking change though was the appearance of the large reptilian tale.

Kimmimaro sprung from the bone pedestal he was standing on and continued trying to spear her teammate. Sasuke, in his exhausted state was steadily losing ground and barely able to stay away from the blade.

Without wasting a second, Sakura began pouring the last dregs of her chakra into a last genjutsu.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu (Bringer of Darkness)

Kimmimaro's movements finally ground to a halt as he tried to remove the strong genjutsu from his vision, however despite his best efforts, this genjutsu remained firmly anchored.

Sakura slowly crept up to her injured teammate while the Kaguya lashed about randomly trying to locate the pair of Anbu.

"Mizaru" She whispered quietly. "He won't be able to get out of that genjutsu, but we have to hurry, it won't last forever."

Sakura immediately began healing the wound in Sasuke's arm. Sasuke grunted in pain as the flesh was forcibly knit back together in the green ethereal glow.

"We're both almost out of chakra, and whatever technique he used to transform multiplied his chakra tenfold. We're running out of options here. The poison I imbedded in him has weakened his bones enough to make him vulnerable, but we still haven't been able to land a decisive blow."

Sasuke's face remained impassive as he kept a watchful eye on the now still Kaguya. The bone wielder was attempting to find them. Without removing his gaze, he quietly responded.

"I have a one shot technique left, but if this doesn't work then we're out."

Sakura nodded her head as her chakra finally waned and left a half healed wound on her teammates arm.

"I'm sorry Mizaru, this is the best I can do right now. My chakra is almost out, if I use anymore I risk going unconscious."

Sasuke nodded, "Try to get outside of this immediate area, I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire then. I'm may need help once this is done, especially if he doesn't stay down this time."

He deftly passed a small soldier pill to his female teammate who took it without a second thought. With a short spare glance back, she began bounding through the forest of razor sharp bones.

Sasuke sighed and set his hands in the ram seal. With a final short pause he began gathering his chakra. Dust around him began to slowly blow away as he quietly intoned.

"Kyumon… kai. Seimon… kai." (Gate of healing, gate of life)" Chakra began to swirl about his body as he drew out more and more chakra.

Kimmimaro, sensing the great build up of chakra, discarded his long spinal blade and began forming a huge heavy spear over his right arm. He held the spear in front of him almost like a shield and settled into a ready position.

"Tomon… Kai!" (Gate of Limit)" Sasuke said more loudly this time. He face was set in a look o utmost concentration as the chakra cloud about him continued to grow more and more dense. The chakra began to lose is normal light blue hue as it grew more and more dark, taking on a midnight blue color. His skin too took on a darker shade, like he had spent far too much time in the sun.

Finally he called out "Keimon… KAI!" (Gate of View). The chakra exploded outward, before quickly drawing back in on itself, wrapping it ethereal form tightly around its master. Sasuke slowly drew his mother's ninjato from his back; its silvery blade was immediately engulfed in the dense blue chakra. He slid his foot back into the first stance of his families' taijutsu and called out.

"Ninpo: Ikari Ishi (Orphan's Rage)"

And then he was gone. Disappearing in a cloud of dust and chakra. The Kaguya quickly turned in the direction that he had heard Sasuke and raised his large spear in an effort to block the attack. An instant after he raised his shield the felt the very same bones shatter as a blade passed through them like a hot knife through butter. The blade continued on its path and bit deep into his side. As soon as the blade broke the skin, the genjutsu around him came crashing down

In front of him he could see the white-cloaked anbu, his cloak billowing out about him. His eyes were shining a bright red and the entirety of his body was shrouded in a deep blue chakra that reeked of pain and sorrow.

Kimmimaro began working on healing the deep cut that Sasuke had left in his side while he reached out to grab his masked opponent, but before his arm even had a chance to move, Sasuke had already disappeared, leaving only dust in his wake.

A slight sound of a broken twig behind him was all the warning that he had before Sasuke's foot crashed into his back, sending him careening in the air. In the blink of an eye his opponent was back upon him. Each attack he alternated between a kick and a slice with his sword. If not for his unusually dense bones, he would have been reduced to ribbons in the first couple seconds. A particularly painful bite was his first warning as his right arm was severed just above his elbow. The large bones that extended from his sides afforded him little protection as they were systematically destroyed. His tail had been flayed open and deep gashes littered his back and sides. His failing chakra was attempting to stem the blood loss. Finally after what felt like an eternity, he felt the cold steel of the ninjato pierce his sternum as he was flung back into the earth like a comet.

Jiraiya surveyed the chaos in front of him. Hundreds of dead bodies littered the fields along the western wall. It was difficult to ascertain who was even winning the battle. On one side there was a raging fire where a vast quantity of still molten glass had come into contact with the forests. On the other was a veritable sea of bone with both friend and foe alike impaled upon them.

Once he had arrived, the Anbu attached to his unit immediately leapt into the fray, eager to join their comrades. The sounds of more people landing behind him drew his attention away from the fighting.

"What's the status at the main gate Tenzo?"

The Anbu signaled his teams to enter the fray as he answered.

"The Hokage and her teams have effectively neutralized any threats there. They were unable to breach the main gates, so very few casualties were suffered. There also appeared to be a severely deficient number of enemy forces at the gate. Intelligence theorized that the main force from Suna was to engage the main gate."

Jiraiya nodded his head,

"Well damn, looks like we'll be buying the drinks tonight. We're the only wall to have been breached."

Tenzo shook his head morosely at his leaders nonchalance to the ongoing strife.

"Umm… Jiraiya-sama, wouldn't it be wise if the two of us entered the battlefield. This is the last major hotspot and we need to secure the village."

Jiraiya nodded his head,

"Of course"

Without another moment the pair dropped down from the great wall. As they landed, Jiraiya's hand struck the ground.

"Kuyichose no jutsu! (Summoning Technique)"

In a large burst of smoke, roughly a dozen toads, all around the size of a horse and armed for battle, appeared.

"Spread out, take the wounded back over the wall."

The large group of toads immediately began to spread the themselves around the battlefield. They attacked any enemy that got in the way of their objective and began taking their wounded back to safety.

Tenzo leapt through the trees landing in the middle of a group of Suna-nin

"Mokuton: Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu" (Wood release Smothering Binding Technique)

Large branches sprung from the surrounding forest and wound their way around the unfortunate shinobi. Tenzo pulled the standard issue ninjato from his back and slowly approached his prisoners.

"For what its worth, I'll make it quick" he muttered as he drew towards the first.

Tenten frantically weaved her way through the ongoing battles. She saw Iwazaru fall to the ground and feared the worst. Even if he was still ok, he definitely hadn't made ay friends among the Suna-nin or Oto-nin that day.

As she approached, she saw one enterprising young Suna-nin rush towards her target with a dagger in hand, ready to claim retribution. Without a moments hesitation she drew her on katana and cut the man down from behind.

A loud crashing announced another arrival behind her. She quickly spun around only to come face to face with a large grey toad wielding the largest war hammer she had ever seen.

"Quickly" It croaked out "Load Iwazaru on my back and lets get him out of here."

Tenten quickly complied as she lifted her former savior from his resting place and secured him on the back of the toad. Once Iwazaru was secure, she too climbed on.

"Hold on" the toad croaked again as he quickly took to the air, leaping deftly towards the wall.

Sasuke rested heavily on his knees, not too far in front of him laid the Kaguya, Sasuke's ninjato firmly staking him to the ground. Deep lacerations covered his still transformed body even as his chakra attempted to heal them.

'_Please, just stay down this time. Don't get back up…' _He quietly intoned to himself. In is peripheral vision he could just make out Sakura slowly approaching him. Finally after several seconds of watching the Kaguya, the man suddenly stopped moving. His skin began to fade to its pale color, and the once black tattoos retreated, leaving a pale shadow of a man staked piteously to the earth.

Sakura slowly approached her exhausted teammate.

"I think its over…"

Sasuke nodded and motioned for Sakura to help him up. Sakura deftly hoisted him to his feet and put his arm around her shoulders to support him. Slowly the pair began making their way towards the pinned Kaguya. His chest still rose and fell shakily; a bloody froth had begun for form around his mouth.

"You poisoned me didn't you Mizaru? No sword should have been able to cleave my bones so easily…" He wheezed.

Sakura stared at her dying opponent with a detached expression.

"It was cadmium. It causes flu like symptoms and osteoporosis."

The Kaguya coughed roughly, spraying crimson into the air.

"I never expected you to beat me. I suppose I should of taken the warnings seriously."

He closed his eyes,

"I'm sorry Orochimaru-sama, it appears as if my usefulness has passed…"

Sasuke stared at the corpse for several moments before speaking.

"Let's go Mizaru…

Naruto groaned as the world around him slowly came back into focus. Arduously, he lifted his hand towards his face only to feel the cold hard shell of his anbu mask.

"Are you awake Iwazaru-san?"

Naruto wearily blinked his eyes, wishing that the pounding in his head would go away.

'_Its so bright here…' _He thought idly to himself.

True enough, the entire room he was currently in was a clean white.

'Its been a long time since I've been in a hospital'

Placing his hands on the soft bed he laboriously pushed himself into a sitting position. Turning to his side, he could clearly make out Tenten and an unrecognizable nurse standing near his bedside.

"How long have I been out?" Naruto's voice sounded like gravel.

Tenten handed him a large cup of water with a long straw. He quickly slipped the straw under his mask and drank greedily as the nurse checked her charts.

"Apparently you've only been unconscious for a couple of hours. Your medical scans show no apparent injury except a large depletion of chakra. Although it appears as if the chakra has been returning to you quickly. You'll probably be stiff and tired for a couple of days though."

The nurse walked over to his side and knelt down to look him in the eyes.

"Iwazaru, I know you're tired, but right now the Sandaime is in critical condition. He desperately wants to talk to you and your teammates. Kikazaru is helping Mizaru to his room as we speak. Do you think you are up to visiting him?"

Naruto didn't have to think twice as he nodded to the slightly distraught nurse who quickly began unfolding a wheelchair.

"Tenten-san, will you help me lift Iwazaru into the chair?" The nurse asked kindly.

Naruto tried to motion that he would rather walk, but despite her rather petite appearances, the nurse had a nerve of steel when dealing with shinobi.

"Look Iwazaru, I know it hurts your severe shinobi pride, but you will either see the Sandaime in this wheelchair or you will not see him at all."

Naruto withered under her stern gaze as Tenten helped ease him into the uncomfortable chair. His muscles appeared to revolt against them disturbing their rest as they began to seize uncomfortably.

"Tenten I'm afraid you'll have to wait in the lobby while Iwazaru meets with the Sandaime."

Tenten looked slightly put out, but didn't argue as she left the room.

"She hasn't left your side since she carried you in here you know." The nurse said as she began wheeling Naruto through the hospitals corridors. "She said that you saved her life and the lives of hundreds of other people."

Naruto shook his head as he responded,

"I only did what I had to."

The nurse laughed lightly as she pushed him around a corner. Just down the hall he recognized several of the Hokage's guards standing around a door blocking its entrance.

"Most of those we call heroes only did what they had to do, Iwazaru."

The nurse nodded to the Anbu standing guard as she stopped the wheelchair.

"Looks like this is as far as I go Iwazaru. I'll be back to pick you up when you're ready to go."

Without waiting for a response she began walking away. One of the Anbu walked behind him and began pushing him through the door and into the room. Inside I could see Kikazaru sitting in another wheelchair with Mizaru standing at his side. In front of them Sarutobi lay on a white bed, the color of his skin nearly matched the color of the sheets. A mask plastic mask pushed oxygen rich air into his lungs as he slowly gasped for air.

The old shinobi coughed as he smiled,

"Good… I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time Iwazaru"

Naruto tried to smile back, but thankfully his mask blocked his pitiful attempts. Sarutobi feebly waved the Anbu standing at the door away to give him and his team some privacy. After the others were gone, the three teammates began removing their mask. Sakura had to help Sasuke since his arm was still injured from his fight with the Kaguya.

Before anyone had a chance to talk, Naruto blurted out.

"I'm sorry Sensei. If I had only been a little faster I could of gotten here before the invasion started and been more help."

Naruto stared gravely at the floor as he talked. Tears were beginning to well up in the tears eyes, knowing that their Sensei was only minutes away from dying.

"Naruto, I could not of possibly expected you to do any better. No one else in this village could have possibly delayed an entire army for as long as you did and live to speak about it, nor could they of stopped Shukaku so quickly."

Sarutobi looked away from Naruto and towards his friends,

"And you two, you fought and beat one of Orochimaru's top generals while organizing a defense made entirely out of genin and chuunin. The entire village is saying that if it wasn't for the San'en, we would of lost the wall."

Sarutobi paused to take a deep breath.

"I'm so proud of you. You three are everything that is best in me."

Sakura began crying in earnest, both Naruto and Sasuke had tears slowly leaking from their eyes as they Sensei lay quietly in his bed.

"Will you do me a last favor?"

Sakura choked out, "Anything Saru-Sensei"

Sarutobi smiled,

"I have a grandson, Konohamaru, during the war that is coming, try to keep and eye on him. He can be such a handful and I'm sure he will get himself into trouble. When he gets old enough, give him the Monkey contract, Tsunade knows where it's kept."

Naruto nodded his head,

"Of course Sensei…"

Sarutobi struggled to draw another breath as he quickly surveyed his team.

"Tomorrow when we're not together… There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you."

Sarutobi's breath fluttered slightly as his chest slowly fell to rest. All three of the San'en had tears steadily pouring down their faces as the various monitors in the room began beeping loudly. An Anbu with silver hair and a dog mask quickly helped each of them reapply their masks as a team of doctors and nurses streamed into the room.

"He was a great man and you three were his pride and joy." Said the Anbu as he clasped Naruto and Sasuke on the shoulder and began pushing them from the room with Sakura trailing behind.

-Author's notes

Sorry about the ridiculous delay in getting this chapter posted. Its been a pretty ridiculous summer for me and until recently, free time has been completely nonexistent. I never noticed it until I took a glance at the posted chapters on fanfiction, but as it turns out the website removes all the spacers that I've been putting between the points of views in all of my stories. I went back in and starting fixing it, so sorry if there was any confusion. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review

- Mechen Manachewagan


	6. Chapter 6 Lips of Deceit

A cloudy gray sky hung in despair over the gathered crowd. Countless villagers, shinobi and civilian alike, gathered together to pay their final homage to the Sandaime Hokage who, as the village had been told, died protecting his family in his compound. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had gathered together to watch the procession. Sasuke was still confined to a wheelchair and had to be careful not to overwork his dangerously strained muscles. Naruto and Sakura had both recovered from the various injuries from the attempted invasion. One by one, starting with the Hokage's old teammates, the gathered crowd began making their way forward to pay their final respects as some pretentious civilian counselor droned on about the old man's contributions to the village.

"I can't believe he's actually gone…" Sasuke said quietly, so as not to be overheard from the surrounding genin. Despite their close connections to Saru, they were not allowed attend the ceremony as his students, Tsunade had told them that it was imperative that they remain undercover for as long as possible. So while they were left to grieve silently with the rest of the genin, a trio of Naruto's clones stood at attention dressed in full anbu gear with the rest of the village's elite.

Naruto nodded acutely at Sasuke comment as he fought to keep his face in a carefully constructed mask because "Team seven" as their "genin", team had been named, had never even met the Sandaime. A glance at Sakura showed that she was having the hardest time trying to maintain her façade. A change in speakers brought Naruto's attention back to the main stage. It seemed that Tsunade was finally taking her turn at the rostrum.

"I come before this solemn hour of remembrance tonight, because my conscience leaves me no other choice. Two days ago, my past teammate attacked our _home_. The long forgotten terrors of war were brought back to our doorstep in one fell swoop. Orochimaru has long been a constant irritation, a persistent blemish on our village's great history. The Sound have once again brought war upon our lands, and I for one _will not bow_. For decades, Orochimaru has been filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows. He has injected poisonous drugs of hate and malice into the veins of innocent people."

Tsunade paused for a second to gather herself as the village stared unabashedly. The older villager's knew where this speech was headed, but the youngest remained blissfully ignorant. Beside the team, Naruto heard Shikamaru sigh in discomfort and mutter.

"She's going to do it…"

"The Sandaime was my teacher, mentor, advisor, and friend for many years." Tsunade continued. "He taught me that all differences can be overcome with wisdom and love. But today I stand before you to say that some wounds run too deep and are too old to be overcome. Orochimaru's business of turning our village into a dark and bloody battlefield cannot be reconciled with wisdom and love. We will have our justice, today, we go to war with Sound and any who stand beside them!"

A great cheer erupted from the bulk of the villagers as Tsunade finally formally declared war on the Sound. Most had assumed that village would also be going to war with the Sand, who had betrayed their treaty. However, in the early morning, a small team from the Sand had arrived under a white banner to talk to the Hokage and the village council. Although they had not yet met with the ambassadors from the Sand, they had agreed to wait to make their decision until their meeting later that afternoon.

Naruto's stray thoughts were broken as Sakura touched his shoulder.

"Let's get out of here Naruto."

Naruto nodded and said a brief goodbye to the other genin as he and his team slowly broke away from the group.

Long after the sun had finally set over the village, the team was sitting quietly in their small apartment hidden deep within the Hokage's mountain. Naruto was leaning up against the far wall of the bedroom slowly running a well oiled wet stone over the length of his nodachi. Sasuke was lying on his back in the middle of the floor reading some book. Sakura was staring intently at her small leather bound diary, her small blue music box slowly picking out a sad tune. They had been sitting in their respective positions for several hours. It wasn't until long after dinner had come and past that a knocking at their door captured their attention.

Naruto was the first to rise, he quickly placed his mask over his face and opened the door. One of the Hokage's personal guards stood on the other side of the doorway holding a small green scroll. No words were exchanged as Naruto took the scroll.

As the door closed, Sakura and Sasuke, who was back in his wheel chair, came out from the confines of the bedroom.

"Who was it?" questioned Sakura

Naruto motioned for them to join him in the living area as he held up the still sealed scroll.

"One of the Hokage's guards delivering a message for us."

Naruto unfurled the small scroll and held it up for his teammates to see. Sakura gave the scroll a cursory glance.

"It seems that Tsunade-taicho is summoning us to the meeting with the Sand this evening. We're to go in full Anbu garb."

Sasuke chuckled,

"Great… I'm sure I'll terrify everyone in the room… Fear me the great wheelchair ninja…" Sasuke muttered morosely.

Naruto let out a small laugh and clapped his convalescing teammate's shoulder as he walked back towards the bedroom to get ready, ignoring the Uchiha grimace from the pain of being hit.

"Its ok Sasuke, I'm sure you'll be the most terrifying wheelchaired ninja that they've ever seen, despite the fact that you can't even dress yourself right now."

Sakura chuckled lightly too as she helped Sasuke back into the room.

Several minutes later, the fully dressed Team San'en was making their way through the maze of corridors towards the Hokage's tower. The note had indicated that they were to be at the council room in twenty minutes although it didn't say why they were required.

As the team finally reached the room, Naruto was surprised to see the entirety of the village council, both shinobi and civilian alike, meeting with the delegates that the sand had sent.

Tsunade, taking notice of the team's arrival ushered them forward.

"Now that the team who originally encountered the Sand ninja have joined us, we can begin with the proceedings. Atasuke-san" She motioned to the lead ambassador from the sand. "You asked for this meeting, so the floor is yours."

Tsunade sat back down at the head of the table with the San'en standing just behind her. The middle-aged delegate from the sand name Atasuke stood up. He was dressed in a traditional grey kimono, his hair was a short cut and had flecks of grey starting to show through.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" He began "I have been sent on behalf of the Sand village to open up negotiations regarding the incident that occurred earlier this week."

There was some grumbling around the room as the man attempted to casually dismiss the invasion that had just taken place.

"As you are obviously aware of, the missing-nin Orochimaru successfully replaced himself as our Kazekage. Unfortunately by the time our leaders had become aware of this subterfuge, Orochimaru had successfully placed nearly one hundred of our jounin and our jinchuuriki as insurgents within the confines of Konoha. Once the snake-sannin's plans became obvious, we immediately sent out almost two-thirds of our remaining armies to attempt to aid our allies here in the Leaf."

The diplomat once again paused to take a small drink of water from the glass that had been provided. After setting down the glass, he picked up a small folder filled with pictures and started passing them around.

"When our soldiers reached the borders, they were met by one of _your_ Anbu, who attacked our armies without warning or provocation."

Naruto managed to catch a glimpse of a few of the pictures as they made their rounds throughout the meeting. Many of them were just pictures of vast amounts of burning forests. One of them looked to be a picture of the crater he had created that started the whole chase, but in all of them, were injured or dead Suna shinobi in various states of distress.

"Obviously, we at Suna are most curious as to why Konoha felt the need to break our treaty that we were fighting to maintain? Had this occurred under any other circumstances, we would have been forced to view these actions as an act of war."

As the pictures reached the civilian sect of the council, various looks of disgust could be seen plainly across their faces. Sakura, whispering very quietly so that the rest of the room wouldn't be able to hear her, leaned towards her teammates.

"They're trying to pin the blame for the attack on us. That way they can claim that each army suffered equal losses so they aren't forced into the war that they started."

Sasuke nodded,

"Do you think that will work?"

Naruto shrugged,

"It did with the Hyuuga incident years ago. A shinobi from Kumo entered the city under the precept of peace talks and tried to steal the Hyuuga heir to steal the byakugan. Unfortunately for him, he was caught in the act and was killed by Hiashi. Kumo blamed Konoha for the death of their diplomat and since we were unable to disprove anything, we were forced to make amends since we couldn't afford another war at the time."

Sakura nodded,

"They're hoping that we won't want to risk a war on two fronts, so their trying to force us into signing a cease fire between the two countries. I'm guessing that they lost a lot more of their soldiers in that battle than they care to admit."

The team was quieted as one of the civilian councilors rose to ask a question.

"So you're claiming that you had no knowledge of Orochimaru's involvement?"

The diplomat calmly nodded his head,

"That is correct."

The unnamed councilor looked slightly confused at the confession,

"Then why would your soldiers attack our outpost, then the Anbu team, and then proceed to attempt to lay siege to our walls if this was all just one giant misunderstanding?"

The diplomat let a small look of annoyance cross his face for the briefest of seconds before his calm mask once again came into place.

"First off, it was a team being led by a sound-nin that originally attacked and killed your shinobi at the outpost. We believe that they were trying to cover an escape route back into Suna."

The councilor appeared to disregard the ambassadors answer.

"That still doesn't explain why your armies whom, to your own admission, were being sent to aid us, attacked the Anbu team and then proceeded to lay siege to Konoha."

The ambassador appeared to wear a slightly triumphant smirk.

"That is because it was your Anbu who attacked us."

A small rumble of voices was heard throughout the room as the councilor's claim sunk in.

"You see, when our forward units reached the clearing where your Anbu were stationed they found themselves being immediately under attack by your Anbu teams. Our entire group of twenty or so shinobi were all killed before anyone could explain the situation. When the regular forces met up with them, they assumed the small group of remaining Anbu were the enemy and attacked accordingly. When they tried to flee, they were met by a large number of Anbu forces within the forces that killed or injured many of our soldiers. By the time we arrived at Konoha, it was apparent that Konoha was attempting to use Orochimaru's attack as a reason to destroy us as well, so our only choice was to proceed with the attack."

Atasuke let a small triumphant smirk cross his face as he sat back down. Now Konoha could be painted as the aggressor, which meant that they would either have to back down or go to war with Suna and his country, would come out on top.

"Bullshit…" Said Tsunade, her face still looking towards the table.

The ambassador looked slightly startled at the small exclamation.

"Excuse me?"

Tsunade stood up and glared at the contingent from Suna.

"I said, I'm calling bullshit. Your armies weren't being sent to aid us, they were being sent to destroy us, and you know that. If you wanted to warn us, you could of sent a messenger hawk."

The diplomats from Suna regarded one another for a brief second before turning back towards the Hokage.

"We have already given our statements, it is an obvious lack of judgment on our part that we didn't send a faster message, however that doesn't negate the fact that _your _shinobi started the attacks. Because of this, Suna's council is willing to offer Konoha a non-aggression pact. In lieu of this past weeks events we find this to be a fair compromise."

Tsunade's hand crashed down hard upon the sold wood table, snapping off a piece of corner.

"AND I SAID BULLSHIT!" She yelled back. "Your soldiers come into my city, kill my citizens and unleashed a jinchuuriki upon us and expect us to believe it was all an accident? You morons have spent too much time out in the sun. YOU started this war and now you want a way out? Well too bad."

She grabbed the scroll that contained the non-aggression pact in her hand and promptly burned it to a crisp.

"You can go back to your little God forsaken desert and tell your council this. They either surrender to Konoha and aid us in the fight against the sound, or you are our enemy and will be treated as such. I will not make the same mistakes that my predecessor made to avoid a war."

The diplomats from Suna looked shocked. Atasuke, in an attempt to save face raised his hands trying to placate the enraged Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, please use your common sense, we both know that we don't want a war" But he was cut off as Tsunade interrupted.

"Then you shouldn't have started one…" She motioned for the San'en to come forward.

"Suna you have disgraced yourselves here. This is our final offer, if you choose to surrender, you will dedicate at least one third of your remaining forces to our war against the sound and you will pay reparations for the war you so foolishly tried to start. You have one week to return under a white banner with the money."

Atasuke looked shocked,

"Surely you can spare more than a week."

The Hokage glared at them,

"Either you are back here in one week, or we will come to you. And make no mistake, if we go to you, you will lose a lot more." She motioned to the San'en "Please escort the ambassadors from the building"

The team nodded as one and walked forward, corralling the small Suna contingent between them. As they made their way down the hallway, Naruto placed his hand on the shoulder of Atasuke and leaned in to whisper into his ear, making sure the terrified ambassador could see his mask change as he whispered.

"Between you and me ambassador. There never were 'teams' of Anbu waiting in the forest. That was all just little old me."

The ambassador paled but managed to respond,

"That's impossible…"

Naruto grinned maliciously,

"Would you like to test that theory?"

With that he leaned back and nudged the ambassador out the door.

"You have until an hour after sunrise tomorrow to leave our village, and we will be watching you."

Not long after sunrise, Naruto found himself slowly wandering down the streets of Konoha. Less than an hour before he and the rest of the San'en had escorted the delegates from Suna to the city limits and seen them on their way. Now though, Tsunade had given him the rest of the day off. Sakura had been corralled into helping at the hospital again, and Sasuke was going though rehabilitation to slowly work his muscles back into shape, which meant that Naruto really had nothing to do.

His mindless wandering led him through the packed business center of Konoha. Less than a week after the invasion, much of the city was back to its normal bustling self. Scattered about, you could still see some remnants of the battles, small scorch marks on walls and broken windows, but much of the city had remained untouched.

His wanderings brought him to the outer edges of the markets where it was quieter. After so many months living in a small apartment or on missions, the excited chatter and noises of the busier markets were slightly disconcerting. As he began walking around the corner, heading towards a training field he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey Naruto!"

Naruto turned around to see who had called his name. Not far down the street that he had just walked down, Tenten was sticking her head outside of her families' store with a grin on her face. Naruto smiled in turn and waved to her.

"Hey Tenten, how's it going?"

Tenten held the door open for him and beckoned him to come inside.

"It's been pretty busy for us here the last couple of days. Since the Hokage has declared war all of the weapon shops in Konoha have been increasing their orders from Tou-san."

Naruto nodded,

"Yeah, I still can't believe we're going to war with Oto though, it seems kind of surreal you know?"

Tenten nodded her head somberly,

"Yeah I know what you mean. Have you received your orders yet?"

Naruto had a slightly confused look on his face as he answered her,

"No, not yet, why?"

Tenten shrugged,

"Well most of the genin are being assigned to forward encampments or bases from what I've heard, but so far no one has really found out where they're going."

Naruto just shrugged,

"Probably because they don't know if we're going to go to war with Suna yet or not, so they don't know how to distribute our forces. Besides, genin are amongst the last to be shipped out, we'll probably be sitting here in Konoha without much to do for another month."

Which was at least partly true, Naruto's team was currently on hiatus until Sasuke had recovered and Sakura was no longer needed in the hospitals.

"Good, that means you'll have time to make the trip with us!"

Came a louder deeper voice from down the hallway where Tenten's father, Mori, was just exiting his workshop.

"What with this war coming and all that, I need to get some more supplies, which means that Tenten, Chichi and I will be traveling towards the shores of Wave country again. If you're able to go, we'd be happy for you to join us."

Naruto thought about it for a second before he nodded his head. He'd have to double check with the Hokage before he knew for sure, but he should be able to go.

"Sure, I think I'll be able to go, but I'll have to check with my Sensei first." He lied smoothly.

Mori smiled,

"Good, we'll be leaving in two days at dawn so find out soon ok?"

Naruto nodded his head and Mori left the shop to go back to the workshop. Naruto turned his attention back to Tenten who was sitting behind a counter idly sharpening her katana. Naruto sat down on the stool across from her and picked up a spare wet stone and began to slowly work the edge on his own nodachi. Several minutes passed in a comfortable silence before Tenten started talking again.

"Thank you… Naruto…"

Naruto looked up from his sword to see that Tenten had stopped sharpening her blade. She was staring at the blade on the table with an inscrutable look upon her face. Naruto's face scrunched into a look of confusion for a second before he answered.

"No problem I guess… But what are you thanking me for?"

Tenten let a small chuckle escape her lips.

"Before the invasion began, I was making sweeps through the forests to check out for civilians. I was teamed up with some other genin named Ukiyo Fusei. We were almost done with our sweeps when that bastard Mizuki came out to warn us about someone attacking the teams."

She took a small breath to steady herself as her voice and begun to shake a little bit. Naruto, obviously already knew where the story was going, but Tenten didn't need to know that, she just needed to talk. So Naruto calmly placed his nodachi on the table with the stone and motioned for Tenten to continue.

"Well, as it turns out Mizuki had betrayed us and was trying to get rid of most of that walls defenses. Fusei must have figured it out first since he and Mizuki started fighting. I tried…"

She broke off for a second as a few tears began forming in her eyes and rolling down her face. Naruto cringed slightly at the sight, having not been raised in a family, he was never quite certain how to react to some crying, much less a crying girl. He remembered a young father with his daughter in the park and attempted to remember how he had soothed his daughter.

Naruto, dragging his stool with him, walked around the table and sat down next to his friends and placed a hand on her back.

Tenten, surprisingly, leaned into his shoulder and started crying as she continued her story.

"I kept trying to hit Mizuki with something from where I was hiding, but he was just too fast. Fusei couldn't seem to hit him either… Mizuki finally threw a large shuriken that Fusei couldn't dodge or block… It killed him on impact I think. I tried throwing everything I had at him and at best I got a few glancing blows. I would of died too, except some Anbu showed up and saved me."

Naruto had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he thought,

'She didn't figure out that I was the Anbu did she?' He thought worriedly.

Tenten sat back up, wiping the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I was so scared during the invasion. Even after the anbu saved me, I ended up having to fight on the wall. That whole day still seems like one big blur when I look back on it, but I do know for sure that if you wouldn't have taught me how to use a katana properly, that I never would of made it through the day."

Naruto just grinned and scratched the back of his head, unsure of how to answer that story. Tenten didn't seem to mind the silence though as she sheathed her katana.

"I've got to go make some breakfast for my sister, would you like to join us?"

Naruto was surprised at the offer but quickly nodded his head.

"Sure, I don't really have anywhere else that I should be this morning."

Sasuke grunted as he completed another slow sit-up while an older surgeon poured his carefully controlled chakra into his muscles to hasten his recovery. It was a relatively new technique that Tsunade had theorized during the last great ninja war. The idea was simple, if you just healed the muscles, they would grow back, but often the patient had severely atrophied and would take months to recover. By having the patient slowly work the injured muscles during the chakra infusions, the muscles grew back much stronger and would take significantly less time to return to their prior state. However, it tended to be very painful for the recipient.

Sasuke's face had been growing more and more red throughout the procedure. Every day he would meet with one of the surgeons that dealt with the Anbu to be healed. The recovery was slow going, but at least he was no longer be confined to a wheel chair. Tsunade had given him the go ahead to use crutches after today's treatment.

"That's all for today Anbu-san" The aged surgeon said as he straightened his back with a pop and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"You should be ok to start walking around using crutches now, but you'll still want to take it easy. Stick to the workout regime that you've been assigned and you should be getting back to normal within a couple weeks."

Sasuke grunted in response as he forced his aching muscles to pull him into a sitting position and swung his legs over the side of the table, trying to ignore the horrible burning feeling of his muscles as he moved. Moving slowly, he began redressing himself, pulling his black undershirt and uniform on arduously.

Finally, with one last heave, he pushed himself to his feet, got his crutches below him and began on the long walk back to the team's apartment. He wasn't far outside of the confines of the hospital before a familiar pink haired kunoichi fell into step beside him.

"I heard that Tsunade had given you the go ahead to finally start using crutches."

Sasuke nodded, pleased to have at least some degree of freedom back. They continued in silence for a couple of blocks before Sakura nudged him lightly and pointed towards the park ahead.

"Who's Naruto with up there?"

Sasuke looked towards the direction that she was pointed. Sure enough, Naruto was running around the park with a goofy grin on his face. A girl who looked familiar was running next to him with a similarly dressed, but younger, girl chasing behind them.

"I think her name's Tenten." He replied after thinking about it for a second. "She graduated a year ahead of us at the academy. Her family owns the weapon shop not too far from here."

Sakura nodded her head before she grabbed Sasuke's arm and started pulling him towards the park.

"Come on Sasuke, let's see what they're up to."

Sasuke sighed,

"Come on Sakura. I'm tired and I just want to relax for a while."

Sakura looked back on her teammate with an bemused smile on her face.

"Are you _whining_ Sasuke?"

Sasuke shrugged his arm from her grip.

"Fine, we go see what he's doing, but then I'm going back to the apartment."

Sakura smiled,

"Great, now let's go"

Sasuke sighed deeply again before hobbling off after his team.

"Oy! Naruto"

Sakura called out loudly. Naruto, still a ways away heard her yell and stopped running, just in time for the younger girl slap his arm and yell.

"Tag you're it!" Before running away and giggling madly.

Naruto glared at his pink haired teammate.

"Thanks Sakura, now I'm it again!"

Sakura grinned and quirked an eyebrow at her disheveled teammate, Naruto looked like he had rolled through the dirt or something with all the grass stains on his clothing.

"You mean to tell me that you're actually playing tag?"

Naruto grinned and nodded his head and excitedly began rambling,

"Yep, see I got invited to breakfast with Tenten and her sister Chichi and after breakfast Chichi really wanted to come to the park to play and Mori said it was ok so Tenten figured that if we were coming here anyways that we would work on our kenjutsu while Chichi played but none of Chichi's friends were here so…"

But Sakura cut him off.

"Jeese… Take a breath when you talk, I get it, you're playing tag and you're it."

Naruto nodded his head again,

"Yep, so I'd better get moving before Tenten and Chichi get too far away."

Without another word, Naruto disappeared in a blur as he made to catch up with his fleeing friends."

Sakura just sighed as he disappeared.

"Sasuke we've got one really strange teammate you know?"

Not hearing any response Sakura turned around to find a note pinned to a tree with a kunai and Sasuke nowhere in sight. The note read, _Sakura, there I went to the park and by the time you read this I'm probably already home and asleep._

Sakura crumpled up the note and threw it in the garbage bin on the sidewalk

"One teammate acts like a kid and the other one is still and antisocial bastard…"

Tsunade rubbed her temples as she once again tried to ward off the impending headache as she stared at the blonde Anbu standing in front of her.

"Let me get this straight… You want me to give you two to three weeks to travel to some village near Wave country, right before the start of the war to try to get a new sword?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders,

"Look, my sword got damaged that incident with the Kumo missing-nin as I was coming back from training with Jiraiya. I need to get a replacement, but no one in Konoha can make a useable nodachi."

Tsunade sighed and pulled out a form from one of the many drawers in her desk.

"Ok, you can go, but there are going to have to be some special conditions. First off, and most importantly, no one can suspect that you're anything but a genin. That means no nature chakra manipulation, no summoning, and nothing that marks you as an Anbu."

Naruto nodded, he has suspected these conditions.

"Thank you very much Hokage-sama. We're going to be leaving at dawn the day after tomorrow."

Tsunade however was already back to doing the vast amount of paperwork that she had sitting in front of her, but she did call out to him as he made towards the door.

"If you see your two teammates send them my way would you? I have a mission for them too."

Tsunade continued on the paperwork as Naruto left to go find his teammates. Despite it sounding like a small favor, he knew she meant it as an order. Sure enough, less than twenty minutes later, Sakura and Sasuke both wandered into her office. Tsunade gave them a once over, Sakura was still wearing the short red shorts and black top, Sasuke was wearing a pair of black shinobi pants and a tight black shirt that didn't restrict his movements, despite still using the crutches, his faithful ninjato hung from his back on a black leather strap.

"As Naruto may or may not of told you, he'll be out of the city for a couple of weeks as he travels to get a new sword made for him. This means that in the mean time I need to find something for the two of you to do. Obviously," she motions towards Sasuke "you can't be placed on active duty."

She pulled a rather large scroll from the pile next to her desk and laid it down on the top of the table.

"Most of the jounin and chuunin are all being sent out to secure the area's we've selected for our forward bases. This means that until the bases are set and the rest of our forces are mobilized, we have a large amount of genin without any instructors."

Sasuke groaned, he already knew where this was heading.

"What we've decided to do is pull several older shinobi who have retired and anyone on medical leave to help prepare the genin for war. The two of you are especially suited for this task since you went through similar training last year."

She handed Sakura the scroll she had pulled out.

"In there are the required training that I think would be the most beneficial for them to learn. Spend most of the time refining techniques they already know, not necessarily teaching them anything new."

Sakura nodded and put the scroll into her kunai holster.

"Obviously you'll be required to wear your Anbu uniforms during the training sessions. Do you have any questions?"

Sasuke spoke up immediately,

"How long are we going to be on this assignment Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade shrugged,

"Probably until Naruto returns from his trip. Are there any other questions."

Since neither of them said anything else, Tsunade dismissed the pair of young shinobi, only to hear Sasuke grumble on his way out.

"That blonde idiot had better hurry his ass up and get back here…"

The following day passed quickly as the team prepared for their individual assignments. Sasuke and Sakura poured over the scroll that Tsunade has given them which detailed what skills the genin were to learn over the month of training. It highlighted practicing ambushes, traps, wilderness survival, chakra control, and situational awareness. Nothing was too hard, but the genin had to have it down before the month was up, without it, they stood a significantly greater chance of not making it through the war.

Naruto began carefully packing for his cross-country trip with the Minamoto family. He carefully sealed his normal ninja gear that Jiraiya had picked out for him into scroll, careful to leave anything that would set him apart from the other genin. Finally happy with what he had packed, he shouldered his bag and headed towards the door waving to his pair of slightly disgruntled roommates on his way out.

"I'll see you in a couple weeks" He said with a smile on his face "Have fun training the genin"

The sun was just beginning to peak over the distant horizon when Naruto made it to the main gate. He nodded to the two chuunin who were already sitting at gate's guarded entrance before settling himself under a tree and cracking open a book. It wasn't long before the sound of wooden wagon wheels bouncing along the cobbled streets made its way to his ears. Snapping the book shut, he looked up to see Tenten's father, Mori, and her little sister Chichi sitting in a small wooden wagon being pulled by on old looking ox. Naruto could just see Tenten's head poking up over the back of the seats as she sat reclined in the back of the cart. The cart rolled up to the gate where it paused in front of the guards.

Naruto stood up, placing his book into a sleeve of his kunai holster and began making his way over to the cart. From where he was he could see that Chichi had crawled over the back of the bench and come to rest up against her older sister. The poor little girl looked absolutely exhausted

'_Probably not used to getting up this early' _mused Naruto.

Mori stepped down and waived at Naruto before going over to the chuunin to hand over his paperwork. Since the war declaration the cities security had gotten much tighter, you weren't able to enter and leave the city as freely as you could during times of peace.

Reaching the cart, Naruto chuckled lightly to himself seeing that Chichi had fallen asleep across her older sisters lap, effectively trapping Tenten in her position in the cart. Tenten smiled and gave him a small waive.

"Go ahead and drop your pack in the cart" She said quietly so as to not wake her sister. "You can sit up front with Tou-san."

Naruto nodded and placed his small bag in the rear of the cart.

"Is that all you brought?" Tenten asked, looking dubiously at his backpack.

Naruto quickly glanced at the other packs in the cart and noticed them all to be substantially larger than his own.

"I sealed a lot of my gear into some scrolls. I only left out the stuff that I may need to get to quickly, like my poncho and what not"

Tenten looked at his pack thoughtfully.

"Well you're better at sealing than I am then. I still have a hard time getting anything bigger than kunai and shuriken to seal properly. Maybe you can give me a few pointers on it sometime?"

Naruto nodded, glad that she hadn't questioned his abilities in sealing anymore. He didn't really know any cover story for how he knew how to seal anything in the first place. It wasn't really a common skill amongst most shinobi anymore. He was saved from any further awkward conversation as Mori finally made his way back to the cart.

"Well they gave us the go ahead to pass on through. You and Tenten will have to show your shinobi ID cards though. I got it set up that you two are technically running guard duty for my shipment back."

Naruto looked at him quizzically,

"I didn't know you got this authorized as a mission. I would have done it for free."

Mori laughed,

"Good because I didn't really plan on paying you for this. I only registered it as a mission because I wasn't sure if the Hokage would let you two go if it wasn't."

Naruto shrugged as he began climbing into the wooden cart.

"Makes sense I suppose, I never really gave it any thought."

Mori sat down along side of him.

"Well you shouldn't really need to do any guard duty, but there have been rumors of some highway thieves and stuff near where we're going, so it would probably be best if you and Tenten keep half and eye open."

Tenten chuckled from behind them,

"Yeah, because I'd be a lot of help right now…"

Naruto looked behind him to see that Chichi was still draped across her sister's lap, pinning her to the cart. Mori just laughed and snapped the reins on the ox to get the cart moving. As they slowly rolled past the gate Naruto handed over his ID while Tenten expertly threw hers to the guard. After giving them a brief glance the guard handed them both back to Naruto and waived them off, wishing them good luck on their mission.

The first several hours of their trip past rather quietly. Naruto, Mori, and Tenten exchanged small talk as the road slowly passed by beneath them. Riding in a cart wasn't nearly as enjoyable as Naruto had always thought it would be. The wooden seats weren't particularly comfortable, and the entire cart would bounce and shake at every little rock on the old dirt road. Mori must have seen him grimace as one rock almost knocked Naruto from his seat.

"I take it that you're not particularly fond of the cart?"

Naruto grimaced and shook his head.

"To be honest sir I have no idea why you would ever want to travel like this."

Tenten laughed which caused Chichi to raise her head and looked around at the world with a confused expression on her face.

"What's everyone laughing at?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Tenten, finally free of her sister's weight stretched her legs as she answered.

"Not you Chichi, don't worry. We were laughing at Naruto. Apparently he likes sitting in the cart about as much as I do."

Chichi smiled and pulled on the corner of Naruto's jacket to get his attention.

"Ne. Naruto, if you don't like the cart, can I ride up there with Tou-san?"

Naruto gladly jumped off the cart and began walking along side it, allowing the younger girl plenty of room to move up front.

"Naruto" Chichi called out to him. "Will you tell me a story?"

Naruto laughed,

"Why do you want me to tell you a story?"

Chichi shrugged her little shoulders.

"Well Tenten and Tou-san always tell me the same boring stories over and over."

Naruto laughed at the slightly scandalized look on Tenten's face.

"Alright, what do you want me to tell you about?"

Sasuke stood next to his teammate as they watched the twelve genin wander around the specified training grounds. Some took it upon themselves to start training, either doing warm up stretches or going through some taijutsu katas, but most of them were just lazing around.

"You'd think with the war just around the corner that they'd all be pushing themselves harder" Sasuke noted to his teammate.

"Yeah, but at the same time you've got to remember that these are all still genin. Most of them haven't been on more than one C rank mission or ever actually faced another shinobi in combat." Replied Sakura

Without another word Sakura shunshined to the middle of the field, Sasuke following just behind her. Their appearance seemed to go unnoticed by the vast majority of the genin. One of their old classmates, Shino, was among the first to notice. As Sasuke looked around he was able to spot several of their old classmates. Shino, Kiba, and Hinata were all spread around the field. The other nine genin were either from this year's batch or from the years preceding them.

"Ok guys get your asses in gear, we've got a lot to do and less time to do it in." Sasuke called out through his mask. Almost immediately the genin began jogging over to the two masked ninja standing in the middle of the field. Once they were all there Sakura motioned for them to take a seat before she began talking.

"In one month, all genin will be transferred to different forward bases along the borders of Oto and possibly Suna as well. This means that my partner and I have exactly one month to get you in shape to survive. For the next month we will be living and sleeping here on the training grounds, so I hope you brought all your gear, if you didn't… well tough luck you don't get second chances on missions so you sure as hell won't get them here."

Several of the gathered genin blanched when they absorbed what she had said. Most of them had packed lightly for a day of training, not expecting to stay the night, let alone and entire month. Seeing that Sakura had finished talking Sasuke stepped forward.

"You can call me Mizaru and this is my teammate Kikazaru." He pointed absently towards Sakura. "We have been given the unfortunate task of overseeing your training for the upcoming month. Unlike your normal Sensei, we are not here to coddle you or pander your every need. Because we are hard you will not like us, but the more you hate us the more you will learn and learning starts now. From now until we say so you are only allowed to use the gear that you have on your bodies right now. If you weren't smart enough to keep your gear on your person, then you have lost the right to use that gear."

Many of the genin groaned and looked over at the ten bags that littered the outer edges of the training field. It looked like only Shino and one of the older genin had thought to keep their gear packs with them the rest of them only had their kunai holsters and a few of the basics on them

"Right! Now that we all know one another and have an idea of what you're going to be learning here it's time to get started. ON YOUR FEET! You all owe me fifty laps around the field."

The genin all stared at each other for a couple seconds before Sakura's voice broke the silence.

"Well what are you waiting for! Get moving!"

As the teams began running around the field, Sakura walked over to her teammate.

"Think we laid it on a little thick?"

Sasuke shrugged,

"Doesn't matter really. No matter what we said they won't really absorb it until we start training them later. Our orders are to be extremely hard on them because the harder we are on them the better chance they all have in the war."

Sakura shrugged,

"I know… I guess we better get ready for the combat training then I suppose"

Sasuke nodded and began stretching in anticipation for the rest of the day while Sakura kept an eye on the genin.

Naruto poked the dwindling fire bringing new life to the small flames. The air had gotten cooler and damper the closer they got to the coast. At night the dampness seemed to cling to everything, pulling what little warmth there was to be had away from you. He sighed quietly and rested an elbow on his knees.

Mori, Tenten, and Chichi had retired to the tent hours ago but Naruto had offered to keep watch. Twenty clones were patrolling the surrounding area leaving Naruto alone at the fire.

"Aren't you cold out there?"

Naruto turned around to see Tenten's head peeking out from the tent flap. Her hair, normally done up in two tight buns, laid loose around her head. Her normal chinese shirt had been traded for a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of loose cotton pants. A large panda covered blanket was draped around her shoulders to keep her warm.

_"Definitely not shinobi gear…" _Naruto noted subconsciously, outwardly though he just shrugged.

"It's not bad when you get used to it. Anyways, I've definitely been through worse weather."

Tenten quietly crawled out from the tent, trying not to wake her family. She walked over towards the fire and sat down on the log next to Naruto.

"I thought you said you were going to keep watch tonight. You don't seem to be watching anything too closely"

Naruto nodded but took a second to reply.

"I've got clones watching the camp. Don't worry, no one will get anywhere near the camp without me knowing."

Tenten looked at him with a confused expression.

"How do clones help?"

Naruto chuckled,

"They're shadow clones. Anything memories that they have are transferred to me when they dispel."

Tenten looked intrigued.

"That would be helpful to have; do you think you could teach me?"

Naruto turned and looked at her for a second.

"Sorry, but I don't think you really have the chakra capacity to use it. I'm really only able to because my I have a lot more chakra than most people."

Tenten fell silent as Naruto added a few more small sticks to the fire to keep it burning.

"You're different you know?" She said suddenly.

Naruto turned and looked at Tenten with a confused look on his face.

"It's not a bad thing" She said "It's just you act different than most genin that I've ever met. Sometimes you act all serious and mature and then all of a sudden you'll act like a kid. I think it's why Chichi likes you so much."

Naruto just smiled,

"I like Chichi. She's a good kid." He looked back towards the fire. "When I was younger I always wanted to be part of a family. Part of me always wanted to be the big brother that looked out for his younger siblings."

Tenten looked over at him,

"Your parents never had another kid?" She asked innocently

Naruto just sighed and looked up at the sky,

"I never had parents. They both died in the Kyuubi's attack, no one seems to know who they were."

Tenten looked down, obviously embarrassed

"I'm sorry Naruto… I didn't know."

Naruto just shrugged.

"It's not a big deal."

Tenten stayed quiet for a long time after that, she wasn't sure what else she could say after that debacle. After a little while Naruto added another stick to the fire as the temperature continued to drop. Tenten shivered slightly as an ice cold breeze blew through the camp.

"Here" Naruto said suddenly. Tenten turned to see him handing her his large coat that he always seemed to wear. "It's wind proof. It will keep you warmer than that blanket will."

Tenten was about to decline the offer when another breeze blew through the campsite. She quickly traded her thin blanket for the larger warm coat.

"Won't you get cold?"

Naruto wrapped the blanket that Tenten had been using around him and shook his head.

"No, my fire chakra can keep me warm if I really need it to. I just have to be careful not to light anything on fire when I use it. Besides this is nothing compared to the mountains."

Tenten pulled the coat tighter around her shoulders.

"You've been to the mountains? My team never gets to go that far away from Konoha. I think Tou-san went once a few years ago to see about getting some iron, but said the stuff from up there wasn't any good for weapons."

Naruto slid off the log they had been sitting on and sat down on the ground, using the log as a back rest.

"My team got a mission up there a few weeks before the start of the chuunin exams. It was supposed to be an easy trip into a village to help guard a shipment of iron ore that was bound for Konoha. Everything was going fine, but apparently some stupid bandits thought to rob the village. We ended up having to stay a lot longer than anticipated and completely missed the start of the exams."

Tenten sighed,

"Yeah, I think everyone gets stuck in those missions from time to time. We had one where we were supposed to go help some farmer whose sheep were getting attacked by wolves. Turns out the wolves never existed and it was a big group of thieves that were killing them for food. The mission was supposed to only take a couple of days and we ended up staying two weeks because my knuckle headed teammate went and got himself injured."

"One of the thieves got a lucky shot in and hit him?" Naruto asked, curious to how a group of thieves had incapacitated a trained ninja, but Tenten just laughed.

"Nothing like that no… He can just be a little overenthusiastic in his training and he ended up hurting himself when he fell off a cliff he was trying to climb with one hand."

Naruto laughed quietly that sounded like a training idea that Jiraiya would have come up with.

"So why are you up so late anyways Naruto. You could have just set a few traps and gone to sleep, no point in staying up all night."

Naruto glanced at his watch and noted that Tenten was right. It was already after one in the morning.

"I dunno, I just couldn't sleep I suppose. Why are you still awake?"

Tenten settled down on the ground next to him letting her feet come to rest near the fire.

"You're going to laugh if I tell you?"

Naruto just smiled and motioned for her to continue the story. Tenten just huffed and shook her head.

"Well I'm sharing a tent with Chichi right?" seeing Naruto's nod she continued uninterrupted. "well like most kids, Chichi has a tendency to move around a lot in her sleep and it keeps waking me up cause I think it's someone attacking the campsite or me Sensei testing us or something. I'm too used to it being quiet at night, all the extra noise and movement just keeps on startling me."

Naruto cracked a smile, but wisely refrained from laughing at the poor girl.

"I suppose that would be rather distracting. So tell me about this city we're heading towards? Have you ever been there before?"

Tenten just smiled and looked towards the fire.

"Well for starters it's not really much of a city, really it's just a small village, but there are a bunch of other villages all nearby along the coast. Most of the place is filled up with fisherman and farmers, but there are a few of the world's best mines in the area. It's pretty isolated though since you can only get to it by a boat or by using this long winding trail."

Naruto just stared into the fire listening to Tenten rattle on and on about the village that her father had apparently been born in. It wasn't until several hours later that sleep finally claimed the young shinobi as they sat alongside the warm coals of the fire.

The next several days passed slowly for the traveling party as they deftly navigated the long winding trails through the forests along the coast. Mori had said that they would be reaching the first village by noon that day and would stop there for lunch then hopefully make it to their destination well before nightfall. Naruto and Tenten had taken to walking slightly ahead of the wagon by a small lead. Occasionally Chichi would run up to walk with them, but she mostly stayed in the wagon with her father, Mori.

True to Mori's word they had reached the Village of Jigane*. They rented a pair of cheap rooms in the local motel while Mori began going about contacting the local miners to see why the shipments of ore from the area had nearly trickled to a standstill over the couple of years. It was on his way out to see about the orders that Naruto heard him swear.

"Damn it!" Mori said loudly enough for the people in the neighboring rooms to hear.

"The book with all my inventories must have fallen off the seat in the wagon. I can't find the blasted book anywhere."

Mori turned and looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, I hate to do this to you, but I know I had that book just a couple miles outside of town. I must have accidently dropped it when I set it down by my bag. Do you think you can run back and try to find it for me while it's still light out?"

Naruto glanced out the window and saw that he still had a few hours of sunlight left before nightfall.

"Sure I can do that, just make sure that if you go anywhere that you keep Tenten with you ok?"

Mori insisted that it wasn't really necessary, but eventually relented. Naruto didn't want to bring it up to Mori, but something in the village seemed off to the ninja. The people moved too quickly in the streets like they didn't want to get caught there. Tenten mentioned that she saw a couple of odd looking men in an alley, but didn't make any other comments on the locals.

Naruto kept a cursory eye out as he sped through the trees outside of town, careful to watch the trail for the small book that Mori had left. Sure enough not more than 3 miles outside of town he spotted the book lying alongside of the road in some gravel. Dropping to the road, Naruto picked up the book, dusted it off and placed it into his backpack and began walking back towards the city. Roughly a mile outside of the city he started to hear rustling in the brush just up the road from him. It was a choke point in the road where a couple of large boulders and thick brush drew in close to the road. Drawing closer, a light breeze wafted the smell of body odor and cheap liquor towards him. He froze right past the first big rock.

"You know what's nice about not using soap?" He asked seemingly to himself. "You can smell thieves a mile away!"

-Authors Notes

I know its been a ridiculously long time since I last updated the story, but a few recent reviews that I got spurred me on to try writing a little more. After the last couple of chapters this one may be a little slow, but it starts to set things up for the next one.

If anyone is possibly interested, I could use a hand from a beta reader. Mainly I need someone for a sounding board to bounce ideas off of and to proofread my chapters, because I freely admit that I'm not always the best writer out there. If you're interested just send me a message or put it in a review.

Thanks for reading,

Mechen Manachewagan


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